WAYS OF THE OWL. 327 



knows a piece of cloth which I have used to thro ead 



when I have wished to handle him. and the Bight of it 



cause him to make strong efforts to escape from hi - -. All 



three of the barred owls hide their snrplns food, and remember 

 where they keep it. Snowdon, on the contrary, sornetin. nds 



tons which he is not ready to devour, letting hi 

 sink down bo as to cover them. Puffy not only nnd the 



commands " Get on " and " Get off," hut he knows his; own 

 and generally an I call him V giving 



clap "with his beak. He has frequently aledhi -. to 



me by this answer when I have lost Mm in the bushes, tall g 

 or at twilight. That he especially, and all my other owls to a 

 degree, know me and distinguish me readily from strangers, :-. I 

 think, undoubtedly a fact. Thus far I hav rn unable * 



that any of the owls have a clear notion of t: as indi- 



cated by the coming or _ a >f daylight. The a rk- 



ings of owls are extremely economical In summer the bird 

 enormous appetites, and become frantic with hunger if not fed. 



:y forty or fifty hours. In winter, on the contrary, the ma- 

 ture birds fast for a week or more without complaint. During 

 the winter of 1889-'90 I could not ~ain that Fluffy ate any- 



thing for more than a month that is, from Christmas-time until 

 first week in February. Throughout this period he seemed 

 well, though inclined to keep quiet and t ~ y in the darkest 

 corner of the cellar. When fed regular". amply, all the 



species of owls with which I have had any ience cast from 



their mouths egg-shaped "' pell " -." composed of the bone and hair, 

 fish-scales, and feathers which remain in th-^: si machfi after the 

 digestion of the more nutritious parts of recent meals. This 

 tion is accomplished easily and quickly, with very little visible 

 muscular action. It usually, or at least often, takes pi at the 

 moment when the owl has anoth rty meal in view. TL 



furnaces burn nearly all that goes into them. Considering the 

 amount of fuel put in, the extremely small amount of a - b 

 wonderful. 



In disposition my owls vary widely. The barred as 



owls go remarkably - -tempered and gentle. I never have 



d one offer violence to another, even when two were struggling 

 over a morsel which both v.- mined to hav - don is 



sullen, stupid, cowardly, and treacherous. The _ t-horned has 

 a temper, but he generally k - it ncealed under an air of dig- 

 nified reserve. My 9d -ch-owls, when not shamming sleep or 

 death, were irritable, quarrelsome, and ferocious. Between 

 three-barred owls the: idual diff- ss in disposition, 



which are readily learned but not easily described. They srand 

 out distinctly in my mind as three characters, just as three chil- 



