WOOD NOTES WILD. 



101 



This is repeated, evening to evening, without variation ; 

 but after long waiting and many disappointments comes 

 a change that is at once a surprise and a delight : — 



pa 



Ah 



i r r f ^-^ =t^e -r _ fe 



_. g^ 



Ah - ee, 



Ah - ee. 



Ah - 00, Ah - 00. 



This owl ascends the scale generally not more than one 

 or two degrees ; the charm lies in his manner of descent, 

 sometimes by a third, again by a fourth, and still again 

 by a sixth. At the outset one is inclined to decide that 

 the descent is according to the chromatic scale ; then the 

 steps will seem too short, sounding not more than half so 

 long as those of this scale. I can best describe it as 

 a sliding tremolo, — a trickling down, like water over 

 pebbles : — 



Ah - 00, Ah - oo, Ah - 00, Ah - oo. 



So rapidly and neatly is it done that an expert violinist 

 could not easily reproduce it. Perhaps the descent of the 

 whinny of a horse comes the nearest to it of any succes- 

 sion of natural sounds. 



One September morning something woke me at two 

 o'clock. My head was soon out of the window, and 



