58 JUNGLE FOLK 



plunge from the darkened bungalow into the midday 

 sun of an Indian June. I have seen owls of various 

 species either sitting on a perch or flying about quite 

 happily at midday. 



The chief reason why most owls are so strictly noc- 

 turnal is because they are intensely unpopular among 

 the birds of the day. These give them a bad time when- 

 ever they venture forth. In this the crows take the 

 lead. Crows, like London cads, are intensely con- 

 servative. They hate the sight of any curious-looking 

 or strangely dressed person. Put on a Cawnpore tent 

 club helmet, and walk for a mile in the East End of 

 London, and you will learn the kind of treatment to 

 which owls are subjected by their fellow-birds when 

 they venture forth by day. Mr. Evans, writing of the 

 owl in his volume. The Songs of Birds, says : " There 

 is some sad secret, which we do not know, which no 

 bird has yet divulged to us, and which seems to have 

 made him an outcast from the society of birds of the 

 day. He is branded with perpetual infamy." I trust 

 that Mr. Evans will not take it ill if I state that there is 

 no secret in the matter. Diurnal birds are not aware 

 that the country is full of owls, so that when one of 

 these appears they regard it as an intruder, a new 

 addition to the local fauna, to extirpate which is 

 their bounden duty. When a cockatoo escapes from its 

 cage the local birds mob it quite as viciously as they do 

 the owl. 



Another pecuHarity of the owl lies in the position of 

 its eyes. These are forwardly directed. In most birds 

 the eyes are placed at the side of the head, so that owls 



