OWLS 



head-quarters over a retreating angle of the cornice 

 of the upper verandah, and there he sat all day 

 long, snoring and solemnly blinking, except when 

 he roused himself up to make terrifying gestures 

 at any one who paused to look at him in passing. 

 The servants, of course, clamoured for his immediate 

 eviction; but this I at first would not hear of, as 

 he was a most amusing member of the establish- 

 ment, and beyond creating a certain amount of 

 mess in the verandah immediately beneath his 

 residence, did not seem likely to cause any real 

 annoyance to anybody. Their wishes, however, 

 were soon gratified. We had hardly been well 

 settled in the house before one of our chums, 

 whose bedroom-doors opened on the verandah 

 immediately opposite the owl's residence, came 

 down to breakfast one morning declaring that 

 either he or the bird must leave the house. The 

 reason for this startling resolution was that, during 

 the previous night, the owl had not only disturbed 

 his slumbers by a persistent pursuit of moths 

 within his room, but, as though to add insult to 

 injury, had also alighted on the frame of his 

 mosquito-net and screamed at him as he lay in 

 bed. 



Barn-owls have no regular times for calling like 

 the spotted owlets, though they often shriek just 

 after coming out for the night. It is not easy to 

 see what purpose can be served by their habit of 



