OWL 



4434 



OWL 



SOME OF HE OWLS 



In the hollow tree, in the old gray tower, 



The spectral Owl doth dwell ; 

 Dull, hated, despised, In the sunshine hour, 



But at dusk he's abroad and well ! 

 Not a bird of the forest e'er mates with him 



and pickles. Hydroelectric power is obtained 

 from Eugenia Falls, thirty-six miles away. The 

 town owns and operates all its public utilities. 

 Owen Sound is also known as a summer resort, 

 and its good hotels, fine wooded scenery, its 

 boating and bathing draw many visitors. 

 Queens Park, in the center of the town on the 

 river bank, and Harrison Park, are attractive 

 features. R.D.L. 



OWL, a solemn-looking, solitary bird of prey 

 belonging to a family which includes about 200 

 species. Some owls arc so tiny that one can be 

 worn on a woman's hat; others are as large as 

 some of the eagles. Most owls are nocturnal 

 in their habits, that is, they work and feed at 

 night, and their eyes are especially fitted to see 

 in the dark. In the daytime these birds sleep 

 in some secluded spot. The eyes are set close 

 together and cannot move in their sockets as 

 do human eyes, so if owls wish to look in any 

 direction other than straight ahead they must 

 turn their heads. A ruff of feathers surrounds 

 each eye, and the effect is an odd appearance 



All mock him outright, by day: 

 But at night, when the woods grow still and dim, 



The boldest will shrink away ! 

 O, when the night falls, and roosts the fowl, 

 Then, then, is the reign of the Horned Owl ! 



BARRY CORNWALL : The Owl. 



of wisdom, but owls are not as wise as they 

 look. As an emblem of wisdom the owl in the 

 mythology of the old Greeks was sacred to 

 Athene (the Roman Minerva), goddess of wis- 

 dom. 



Some species have tufts of feathers which 

 look like ears or horns. All are short, bulky 

 birds. The bills are short, strong and hooked. 

 The legs are short and powerful, usually feath- 

 ered to the toe. The body plumage is soft and 

 thick, and the wings are especially adapted for 

 quick, noiseless flight, helpful when the owls 

 are pursuing their living prey of mice, squirrels 

 and other gnawing creatures, birds and insects. 

 The prey is usually swallowed whole, if not too 

 large, and the bones and hairs are later ejected 

 through the mouth in pellets. Holes in trees, 

 caves, old buildings and church belfries are the 

 favorite homes of owls, and there they roost, 

 sleeping or blinking blindly in the dazzling light 

 of day. There, too, they lay their eorgs, num- 

 bering from two to ten, which hatch into downy, 

 odd-looking young. 



