The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Lich Owl

LICH OWL, or LITCH OWL (A. S. lic, a body, and ule, an owl), a provincial British name for any owl, which screams at night, and is superstitiously regarded as portending death. From the earliest ages the hoot of the owl has been regarded as ominous. Ovid, Virgil and Shakespeare contain many illustrations of this common superstition. See Lichgate.