Sentence:  In this essay I will focus primarily on the subject of the owl in order to illustrate how bestiary imagery was modified and developed in late medieval public church decoration, primarily in the form of the sculpted choir-seats known as <WSD>misericords</WSD>. The owl provides a good case study of this process as it was an especially popular <WSD>misericord</WSD> motif and its artistic and literary characterizations are largely informed by—but not limited to—the bestiaries. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  A ledge, sometimes ornately carved, attached to a folding church seat to provide support for a person standing for long periods; a subsellium.