226 FROM BLOMIDON TO SMOKY. 



determined their species. I should notice only 

 tlieir points of difference; and I should find 

 among such points color, size, posture, gesture, 

 expression, and manner. Not only would these 

 points make it impossible for me to mistake one 

 owl for another, but they would give me some 

 passing impression as to the bird's temper at the 

 moment ; for a placid, sleepy, well-fed owl is a 

 very different bird from the same owl irritable, 

 wide awake, and starving, after a three days' 

 fast. 



We distinguish members of our family or of 

 our circle of acquaintances one from another by 

 the differences in their figures, features, and 

 dress ; the motions they make, the sounds they 

 utter ; their conduct, opinions, tempers, appe- 

 tites, virtues, and failings. I distinguish my 

 three barred owls from one another by slight 

 differences in size, in coloration, attitude, mo- 

 tions, notes, temper, appetite, and degrees of 

 intelligence. They are not always in the same 

 plumage ; their appetites vary ; they make dif- 

 ferent sounds under different conditions; and 

 the one which is most docile in midwinter may, 

 when moulting, be most irritable and prone to 

 bite. One of them almost always whines when 

 I approach his cage ; the other two never whine 

 unless unusually hungry. One comes to me 

 when I call him, provided he thinks he is to be 



