Io6 Bbixss, Barred 'Ov)h in Captivity. [April 



other. Food not required by one of the Owls for immediate use 

 is always hidden in a corner, and often guarded with care against 

 appropriation by the other. 



Contrary to my expectations the Owls are not appreciably more 

 active in twilight hours than at other times, and I think they are 

 quiet, possibly asleep, at night. I am certain that in an ordinary 

 degree of darkness thev cannot see. If the light goes out while 

 Fluffy is flying in my cellar in the evening, he is sure to crash into 

 something or fall heavily to the ground. I have held Puffy close 

 to a cat in the dark, and he was wholly unaware of her presence. 

 Neither of them has ever shown a dislike for sunlight, and, as will 

 be seen hereafter, they can see without difficulty in the face of 

 the brightest natural light. While watching anything which 

 interests them they have a most characteristic habit of throwing 

 their heads far forward and then swinging them about like signal 

 lanterns, or waving them back and forth and up and down, as if 

 seeking the clearest avenue of vision to the object of interest. This 

 trick is probably due to their ancestors' peering through thick 

 branches in search of prey. 



About the third week in September, 18SS, the Owls were sent 

 by freight from Chocorua to Cambridge. The journey failed to 

 disturb them, and they took kindly to city life in a sunny corner 

 of my cellar. Their near neighbors were my hens, who resented 

 deeply my early experiments in letting the Owls out in their nar- 

 row dominion. The hens fought them bravely when brought to 

 close quarters. My first test with the Owls at liberty proved that 

 they neither feared me nor desired to attack me. They recog- 

 nized me as their caterer, and hailed my approach with noisy 

 demands for food. I began handling them with heavy gloves 

 which their beaks and talons made little impression upon. 

 Gradually I came to use my bare hands, and with Puffy especially 

 I was soon on familiar terms. The way in which 1 accustomed him 

 to handling was by first rubbing the top of his head with one fin- 

 ger, and then softly rubbing the back of his head and neck with 

 my finger tips. During the process he seemed almost mesmer- 

 ized, although occasionally he would recover himself and make 

 a swjft snap at my retreating fingers. In the course of a few- 

 weeks I gained sufficient influence over both birds to carry them 

 about with great freedom, always beginning by pushing their 

 heads down, and then clasping them round their bodies just be- 



