200 FROM BLOMIDON TO SMOKY. 



I let him out after dark on a patch of closely 

 cropped grass where the dim light enabled me 

 to see him when he moved. I went to the near- 

 est tree and seated myself with my back against 

 its trunk and my legs stretched out before me. 

 Half an hour passed, Puffy scarcely moving ex- 

 cept when a bat flew over him, and I keeping 

 perfectly motionless. At last he came toward 

 me, slowly, a yard or two at a time. When he 

 was within a few feet, I could see his outline 

 quite plainly. One more hop brought him to 

 my knee, upon which he jumped. Instantly he 

 bounded into the air and made off, unmistakably 

 frightened. He had no idea that he was going 

 to strike a leg and not a log; yet if his eyes 

 had been much keener than a man's he would 

 have seen not only that my clothes were not 

 wood, but that I was leaning against the tree 

 trunk watching him. In several instances I have 

 called wild barred owls at night and have had 

 them alight in treetops close above me. I could 

 see them against the sky, but apparently they 

 could not see me sitting among the brakes and 

 bushes below them. Once with an owl thus 

 above me I imitated the squeaking cry of a 

 wounded bird. I wished I had not, for the owl's 

 ghostly wings brushed past my face so closely 

 that I fell back into the bushes, fearing that he 

 would strike at me again. 



