AN OLD BARRED OWL 



O one knew exactly 

 how old he was, but 

 there was an idea 

 prevalent in the 

 neighborhood that 

 ' ' the big swamp 

 owl" which lived in 

 the woods down 

 along the bottom 

 land had been en- 

 joying the pleasures of 

 life for fully ten years. 

 He bore a bad reputation 

 and was regarded as both 

 a thief and a murderer. Of course 

 there were other owls about and there 

 was no absolute proof that this particular bird was respon- 

 sible for all the crimes which were placed to his account. 



The people of the surrounding country, however, were 

 possessed of the strong conviction that this old fellow 

 deliberately planned and carried out his raids on their 



[49] 



