74 NEWS FROM THE BIRDS. 



lie seized it and gave me a well-deserved 

 pincli. His neck got quite a sudden twist 

 when I jerked my finger away. I prefer to 

 keep my fingers out of owls' mouths, don't 

 you? 



Taking my station about five rods away, 

 I 2:)ut his sense of sight and hearing to tlie 

 test. If I quietly moved my hand to and fro, 

 or brandished my cane, he did not turn his 

 head in my direction, proving that he could 

 not see me at that distance ; but the slightest 

 noise I made attracted his attention, so that 

 his hearing must have been very acute. 



By the way, have you ever noticed an 

 owl's mouth ? When ojjened, it looks pre- 

 cisely as if the bird were smiling broadly and 

 pleasantly — somewhat like a clown in a circus. 

 It does not look in the least savas-e or cruel. 

 " Enough to make an owl laugh " is a saying 

 that must have come into vootc because that 

 fowl really seems to laugh when he opens his 

 broad mouth. As to my owlet in the woods, 

 the last I saw of him he had toppled from the 

 bush and was flopping along on the ground, 

 stopping now and then to stare about and 

 listen, to make sure that no enemy was on 

 his track. 



