130 FIELD-STUDIES OF RARER BIRDS 



rushes from one side of the " nest " to a " sheep- 

 drain is a sort of run, about 9 in. long and 5 in. 

 wide, in which one of the owlets timidly 

 crouches. 



Now examine this promising quartet. They 

 are delightful creatures a mingling of softly- 

 blended beauty and seeming demureness, yet in 

 reality, if too familiarly patronized, fiercely fluffy, 

 and showing a sort of " touch me not " expression 

 in their savage looks, well expressed by sundry 

 snappings of their mandibles. Their garb is plain 

 yet pleasing. Above they wear a soft covering of 

 buff plush, each down-tuft being barred towards 

 its centre with soot, and tipped with white. Below 

 they sport chemises of pale buff. Their kittenish 

 faces are clothed with stiff, blackish feathers whitely 

 frilled, which, from being peculiarly fine and dense, 

 suggest bristles. Their w ell-developed legs are 

 gaitered with delicate, buff-coloured down almost 

 to the claws, but the bare skin between these 

 leggings and the claws is of a curious leaden yellow. 

 Their toes are leaden grey, their soles pale chrome ; 

 their staring irides are of a lovely clear yellow, their 

 hooked bills of a leaden cast of grey. 



Handle them if you will, but look out for sharply- 

 striking claws. Seemingly sedate and harmless 

 when first viewed in their befouled and trampled 

 couch, when picked up, or even if only stroked, they 

 immediately degenerate into whirlwinds of ferocity. 

 Meantime, their parents are becoming greatly 



