30 THE ODYSSEY OF AN ANIMAL COLLECTOR 
The place abounded in predatory animals—all of nocturnal 
habits. These included lions, leopards, genets, servals and civet- 
cats, but the leopards were the most numerous and the most 
troublesome. | 
The fowls all roosted in a small tree by the cook-house, and 
one night as we were about to retire we heard an ear-splitting 
squawk from one of them, but no further sound. It was obvious 
that one had been taken, and our guess was a leopard. We dashed 
out with hurricane lamps and guns but heard nothing and saw 
nothing. There were no tell-tale feathers and no spoor. Soon after 
we retired to bed we were roused by another squawk, so out we 
dashed again and were as mystified as before. We then hung a 
lamp on the tree and there was no further trouble. In the morning 
two hens were missing and we inspected the tree minutely for 
claw-marks and the ground for spoor, but without the slightest 
clue. It then became obvious that the fowls must have been carried 
off by air, and I knew that the only nocturnal creature capable of 
this feat was the Giant or Milky Eagle-owl; the fact that it re- 
turned so quickly for a second fowl suggested that there was a 
family to be fed somewhere near at hand. Krantz summoned his 
head boy and instructed him to send boys into the surrounding 
bush to look for such a nest. 
It was on the second day that a boy came in and told us he had 
found an owl’s nest in a tall tree, and that there were two young 
birds. They were indeed Giant Eagle-owlets, and the parents, as 
we expected, turned out to be the culprits, for we found chicken 
feathers round about. For me it was a most happy ending as the 
owlets were added to my collection, and delightful creatures 
they were. 
The adult Giant Eagle-owl is most imposing and is the largest 
of the African nocturnal birds-of-prey. It will carry off anything 
from newly-born antelopes, guinea-fowl, and even fish, down to 
insects such as locusts and beetles. In spite of its ferocity in the 
wild state when hungry, even an adult-caught specimen becomes 
the most docile creature imaginable in confinement, allowing 
itself to be nursed and fondled like a baby. It is quickly able to 
distinguish strangers from those who normally care for it, and 
