the nights of great moons; and it chants while hovering high out of
sight, wherefore a poet has sung of it thus:

Hito koe wa.
Tsuki ga naitaka
Hototogisu! [34]

And another has written:
Hototogisu
Nakitsuru kata wo
Nagamureba,--
Tada ariake no
Tsuki zo nokoreru. [35]

The dweller in cities may pass a lifetime without hearing the
hototogisu. Caged, the little creature will remain silent and die. Poets
often wait vainly in the dew, from sunset till dawn, to hear the strange
cry which has inspired so many exquisite verses. But those who have
heard found it so mournful that they have likened it to the cry of one
wounded suddenly to death.

Hototogisu
Chi ni naku koe wa
Ariake no
Tsuki yori kokani
Kiku hito mo nashi. [36]

Concerning Izumo owls, I shall content myself with citing a composition
by one of my Japanese students: