In Act 2 Scene 4, Ross converses with an Old Man who shares some news with him. Ross notes that, even though day should have arrived "by th' clock . . . dark night strangles the traveling lamp" (2.4.6-7). The hour has arrived which should bring broad daylight, but it is still pitch dark outside.
The Old Man notes that a "falcon, towering in her pride of place,/ Was by a mousing owl hawked at and killed" (2.4.13-14). This event symbolizes that an owl (though also a raptor, still a lesser bird) kills the more majestic falcon (Duncan).
Ross also notes that Duncan's beautiful and swift horses "[t]urned wild in nature, broke their stalls, flung out,/ Contending 'gainst obedienace, as they would/ Make war with mankind) (2.4.15-17). Nature rebels against the unnaturalness of regicide.
The Old Man replies that they "eat each other" (2.4.18); these noble steeds (representing the nobility of Scotland) become cannibals just as the nobility of Scotland will begin to turn against and kill one another.
These strange events represent the unnatural murder of a king who treated his murderers like his own children, but it also represnts the unnatural suspicion which falls on Duncan's beloved and faithful sons.
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