THE WOOD OWL 



37 



a distant part of the forest. It is answered by another hoot, 

 startlingly near and close ; and the bird alights on a branch of 

 the oak opposite which we are standing. Noiselessly as he 

 came, his sudden dropping on the branch shook off several of 

 the big brown acorns, and they bounce down on the short turf 

 almost at our feet. He sits quietly on the branch a moment ; 

 then drops almost as lightly and silently as a shadow to the 

 ground. He has probably caught a mouse or a frog which 

 was skipping about in the moonbeams on the green velvety 

 sward. His mate now comes upon the scene and perches on 

 the next tree. Loud and clear she hoots, and then floats off 

 into tlie gloom. Backwards and forwards the big-looking 

 Owls pass to and fro ; sometimes absent for half an hour, 

 sometimes merely hawking over the glades near at hand. 

 Were you to linger here all night, the Owls and other creatures 

 would be sure to interest you ; but in the gray light of early 

 morning the various sounds grow less and less frequent, and 

 the night birds and animals have retired to their retreats 

 before the first Thrush or Eobin has essayed to utter a chirp 

 of welcome to the opening day. 



During the short light-nights near the summer solstice we 

 have good opportunities of observing the Wood Owl, especially 

 when it is bringing up its brood and pays many visits to its 

 nest in the course of a few hours. It does not call so fre- 

 quently now ; but the young birds are noisy enough in the 

 hollow trees. The Wood Owl preys upon various creatures 

 that haunt the woods and the fields adjoining them. JSTow 

 and then he surprises a belated bird on the hedgerows, but 

 his principal food is mice and frogs. He also catches various 

 nocturnal beetles, and occasionally takes a fish as it floats on 

 the surface of the moonlit water. I have known this bird 

 to visit the farmyards near the woods, and he repeatedly 

 haunts the stubbles for mice. Young rabbits and leverets 

 are sometimes caught, and perhaps a weakly or wounded 



