176 



THE TAWNY HOOTING OWL. 



succession without alighting. But this led to its destruction ; for it was 

 shot by a gamekeeper on the 20th. It turned out to be a common brown 

 owl, its legs and feet closely feathered. A young owl was got near the same 

 place." 



Another strange incident of " An owl attacking a man" is 

 recorded in Forest and Stream : — 



"A teamster, taking in a load of baled hay from Brownville to the 

 Jo Merry Lakes, stopped late in .the afternoon to bait his horses under a 

 big yellow birch ; and, while his horses munched their oats, the teamster 

 coiled himself on the top of his load, and pulled his blanket over him for a 

 short nap. When he awoke it was nearly dusk. On quickly drawing his 

 blanket from his face, it was instantly pierced deeply by sharp talons. This 

 fierce onslaught was made by a large owl, which, on seeing his white face 

 suddenly revealed, and, taking it for a rabbit or some such animal, had 

 pounced with all its energy from the tree above. The man, frenzied with 

 pain and terror, not knowing what had seized him, desperately grasped his 

 enemy, and, clutching the legs (which turned out to be an owl's) with one 

 hand, and its neck with the other, wrenched the head from its bodj T . How 

 he extricated the talons from his face, and made his way to the clearings 

 and help, he hardly knew. By good fortune his eyes were not destroyed, 

 but for a long time his swollen face prevented him from seeing, and I have 

 often heard a description of his appearance during that period. — G. H. 

 James.'' 



This untameable ferocity in owls is innate, and shows itself 

 even when drunk. You'll have heard the expression, " as 

 drunk as an owl" — not that this night-bird likes drink like a 

 toper, for it is a rigid Good Templar ; but an undoubted 

 historical incident lately appeared in the press, of a favourite 

 tame owl getting drunk through accidentally imbibing a tumbler- 

 ful of whisky and water, with the result that the lady of the 

 house was startled by a series of screeches and a kind of hoarse 

 chuckling coming from a room. Entering, she found the owl 

 excitedly fluttering its wings, and engaged in a wild pirouette, 

 which he broke off to rush at her, and drove her from the place 

 as soon as she entered. He became most furious and excited ; 

 he " went for" the furniture, with intervals of more dancing, 

 till, finally, reeling idiotically about the room, chuckling, it lay. 



On the 28th of August 1889, at half-past eight o'clock- 

 twilight — I saw an owl and a bat jerking and wheeling at the 

 harbour, outside of the old Abbey wall, near the two old dove- 

 cots in the east round turrets (where this owl and the barn owl 

 once had their nests). It was so dusky that I could not make 

 out the kind of owl — or whether it was chasing the bat for its 

 prey, or the bat annoying the owl — likely the former ; but I 

 never noticed such an incident with these tw r o silent nocturnal 

 flyers before, so the flying mouse may be added to the owl's bill 

 of fare, as well as the human face. 



