THE SAW-WHET OWL. 



"Whew!" exclaims Bobbie. 

 '^ Here's another Owl. I never 

 knew there were so many differ- 

 ent species, mamma." 



Mamma smiled at that word 

 " species." It was a word Bob- 

 bie had learned in his study of 

 Birds. 



'^The Saw-Whet Owl,'' said she, 

 looking at the picture. ''A good 

 looking little fellow, but not 

 handsome as the Snowy Owl in 

 the June number of Birds." 



" He was a beauty," assented 

 Bobby, '^ such great yellow eyes 

 looking at you out of a snow 

 bank of feathers. This little 

 fellow's feet have on black shoes 

 with yellow soles, not white fur 

 overshoes like the Snowy Owrs'' 



"His eyes glow like topaz, 

 though, just as the other's did," 

 said mamma. " Let us see what 

 he says about himself." 



"As stupid as an Owl. That's 

 the way some people talk about 

 us. Then again I've heard them 

 say, 'tough as a b'iled ov/1.' 

 B'iled Owls may be tough, I 

 don't know anything about that, 

 for I have been too shy and 

 wary to be caught." 



" I had a neighbor once who 

 was very fond of chickens. He 

 was a Night Owl and said he 

 found it easy to catch them when 

 roosting out at night. Well he 

 caught so many that Mr. Owl 



grew very fat, and the farmer 

 whose chickens he ate, caught, 

 cooked, and ate him. His flesh, 

 the farmer said, was tender and 

 sweet. So, my little friends, 

 when you want to call anything 

 'tough,' don't mention the Owl 

 any more." 



"A foreigner?" 



"Oh, my, no! I'm proud to 

 say I am an American, and so 

 are all my folks. A branch of 

 the family, however, live way up 

 north in a region where they 

 sing ' God save the Queen ' in- 

 stead of the 'Star Spangled Ban- 

 ner.' They call themselves 

 English Owls, I guess, because 

 they live on British soil." 



"Do I sing?" 



" Well, not exactly. I can 

 hoot though, and my Ah-ee, ah-ee, 

 ah-oo, ah-oo, has a pleasant sound, 

 very much like filing a saw. 

 That is the reason they call me 

 the Saw-whet Owl. My mate 

 says it doesn't sound that way to 

 her, but then as she hasn't any 

 ears maybe she doesn't hear very 

 well. 



" You never see me out in the 

 day time, no indeed! I know 

 when the mice come out of their 

 holes ; I am very fond of mice, 

 also insects. I like small birds, 

 too — to eat — but I find them very 

 hard to catch." 



"Don't you?" 



62 



