238 WITH THE U. S. NATURALISTS 



''Well, you've heard the noise that a Duck's 

 wings make I ' ' 



"Often." 



''Have you ever heard an Owl?" 



"Never." 



"And you never will," the Feather Man re- 

 joined, "for the simple reason that the Owl flies 

 absolutely noiselessly. The whirr of wings makes 

 no difference to a Woodcock, for he only flies when 

 he is escaping from an enemy, but noise would be 

 destructive to an Owl, since he hunts his prey by 

 night, and the slightest indication of his presence 

 would serve as a warning for every mouse to hide. 

 A Sno^vy Owl can flit through the woods like a 

 ghost, passing so close as to strike at your head, 

 yet you will never hear a sound. 



"I remember once," the Feather Man leaned 

 back in his home-made chair, "when a Horned Owl 

 nearly drove a lumber camp frantic. The men 

 were old lumber-jacks, too, frontiersmen who knew 

 the woods. Do you want to hear the story? 



"I right would, sir!" replied Shan, eagerly. 



"It was in the Canadian woods," the Feather 

 Man began. "I had been up that way doing some 

 special field work on the birds nesting in the north, 

 and, one evening, ^nding myself a long way from 



