103 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



to open his beak, hold his throat, and thrust down 

 the meat as far as possible. The first night I was 

 so anxious about liini I kept his cradle in my bed- 

 room, but he leapt up aud down and made so much 

 noise I was obliged to let him out, and whenever I 

 woke in the night I could hear his footsteps (he has 

 a singularly heavy tread for a bird) round and round 

 the room. I got up in the dark to feed him, but such 

 a horrible swearing, hissing sort of noise pi-oceeded 

 from under the bed that I tumbled back in a hurry, 

 till daylight should enable me to master the situ- 

 ation better. 



I named my bird " Pharaoh " — there was some- 

 thing so truly ancient and mysterious about him. IVIy 

 principal trouble was this : Pharaoh had a dreadful 

 cold in his head ; his nose was really always run- 

 ning, and in the morning he could scarcely breathe, 

 aud used to be continually making noises between 

 a snuffle and a cough. I bathed his beak and 

 breathing-holes with hot water as often as I could. 

 I did not believe he could survive such an unnatural 

 kind of complaint as it appeared in his case. I 

 gave him hot brandy- and -water out of a spoon 

 twice, and got my brother to go and speak to the 

 man who sold him. The man in the market said 

 that young owls always had colds in their heads 

 when taken early from the nest. The cold con- 

 tinued for a long time, but did not seem to affect 

 his general health. 



Pharaoh began to take his food better and to 

 scream incessantly for more; it was quite a work to 

 supply him. I could very seldom get mice. I ap- 

 plied at the corn-chandler's, but never got any. I 

 collected snails off the garden wall, was obliged to 

 crack them, and stuff them down Pharaoh's throat, 

 and this was not a pleasant business at all. Once 

 a frog was killed and cut up. We had some empty 

 stables across the yard, and two large lofts above. 

 Pharaoh slept in one of these ; he made his way at 

 once to the corner he liked best, and kept to it. 

 The little unfledged creature would be sitting at the 

 top of a long steep flight of stairs waiting for break- 

 fast, or if I was late, he would come down, and 

 across the yard, and into the hall, I do not think 

 he ever was young or foolish. He walked upstairs 

 whenever it was possible, and would be found sit- 

 ting boldly on the foot of some one's bed. Going 

 up as many stairs as he could find seemed a special 

 pleasure to him. While Pharaoh was young, I 

 noticed that he preferred dark places, but now, 

 at nearly a year old, he is perfectly accustomed 

 to broad sunlight, and sits contentedly in its full 

 blaze. 



Some friends of mine gave me a dreadful account 

 of two young owls caught on Tooting Common, and 

 put into a hamper together. It \vas supposed that 

 they could not feed themselves, so they were stuffed 

 accordingly ; but one day, when the hamper was 

 opened, it was discovered that one of the owls was 



dead, and that his brother had eaten up the greater 

 part of his body. 



Tliere must have been mismanagement some- 

 wlieie. Pharaoh feared nothing. We had a beautiful 

 cat, whom I never quite trusted with regard to the 

 owl, and a very pretty black-and-tan terrier called 

 Troubadour. When Pharaoh came into the dining- 

 room at breakfast-time, we used to throw bits of 

 bread near him, to see which of the animals, who 

 were both greedy, would dare to touch ihem. The 

 cat would sometimes, the dog never. The back of 

 a red velvet chair in the drawing-room was Pharaoh's 

 favourite place, though he was not often allowed 

 there. I found him a charming green bower in the 

 foliage of the Westeria which covered the house on 

 one side. I carried him there once or twice out of 

 his yard. 



One day I lost him, and hunted all over the 

 stable ; the yard gate into the garden was shut, and 

 Pharaoh could not fly. At last I looked in the 

 Westeria, and there sure enough he was ; he had 

 been seen going up a ladder, and over the wall, and 

 round the house to get at it. Some people were 

 almost inclined to believe that lie had put the lad- 

 der there himself to get over, such was the confi- 

 dence in his sagacity. He was a general favourite, 

 would go out and pay calls, sitting on my wrist, aud 

 spend whole afternoons in the pantry, where the 

 parlour-maid used to take him to sit, if she fancied 

 he felt lonely. 



By this time my bird was growing beautiful. A 

 wonderful heart-shaped sort of bonnet of grey 

 feathers came round his face : his face was pure 

 white, with the feathers brushed back. Two up- 

 right ridges of white feathers stood out like a nose 

 above his beak, aud his eyes shone large and deep, 

 and full of discernment. His wings were very 

 beautiful, but unfortunately their development was 

 noticed while I was away for a short time, and an 

 inexperienced hand cut away all the shorter feathers 

 of one wing. This made no difference in his flying, 

 and on my return I was obliged to cut the long 

 feathers also. It has spoiled his appearance dread- 

 fully. The feathers at the back of his neck are 

 fawn-coloured, and so very deep and soft, and of a 

 light grey colour underneath : a new crop came up 

 I noticed only a few weeks ago. His breast is white, 

 and each outer feather has a minute black spot. 



The cook told me one day that she really could 

 not have Mr. Pharaoh in her kitchen ; he was " as 

 full of fleas as he could be." I was very indignant, 

 and searched all through my beautiful bird without 

 a sign of any insect ; at last I discovered she had 

 taken his little spots for nasty fleas. 



But with this description of his beauties, Pharaoh 

 is only a barn-owl, I believe; bird-fanciers to whom 

 I have shown him tell me they never saw an owl so 

 tame, and I believe it is very unusual. I have taken 

 hill! railway journeys shut up in his old cradle 



