OWLS 207 



business to be there, "to come and spoil the fun." 

 Like most other owls they show their displeasure 

 at having their privacy invaded by a series of 

 grotesque gestures and genuflections, apparently 

 with a view to terrifying the intruder ; and there is 

 something wonderfully comic in such a performance 

 carried out by such pigmies as they are. Should 

 you suddenly come across one that has elected to 

 remain abroad during the day, or that has just come 

 out for the night, and venture to stop to watch 

 him, he will first sit up very erect and then suddenly 

 crouch down, frowning and glaring in a terrible 

 way, and, should this hint be disregarded, follow it 

 up by a series of little dashes forward and querulous 

 cries of " tchu hee ugh." When they spend the 

 day in the open you may hear them croaking away 

 softly to one another all through the afternoon, 

 until the time comes for breaking out into noisy 

 conversation. Now and then one of them will 

 venture into a lighted room, attracted by the insects 

 that throng round the lamps, and sometimes on 

 awaking in the darkness you may become aware 

 of the hushed sound of one flying round your bed 

 in pursuit of moths ; or in the morning may find 

 evidence of their nocturnal visits in the form of 

 scattered wings and other insect debris strewn 

 about over the floor. When they do enter a room 

 they show no sense of wrong-doing, and are in no 

 hurry to take their departure. Once on going up 



