202 FROM BLOMIDON TO SMOKV. 



surplus food, and remember where they keep it. 

 Snovvdon, on the contrary, sometimes stands over 

 portions which he is not ready to devour, letting 

 his feathers sink down so as to cover them. 

 Puffy not only understands the commands " Get 

 on " and " Get off," but he knows his own name, 

 and genei'ally answers when I call him by giving 

 a friendly " clap, clap," with his beak. He has 

 frequently revealed his position to me by this 

 answer when I have lost him in the bushes, tall 

 grass, or at twilight. That he especially, and all 

 my other owls to a less degree, know me and dis- 

 tinguish me readily from strangers, is, I think, 

 undoubtedly a fact. Thus far I have been un- 

 able to see that any of the owls have a clear no- 

 tion of time, except as indicated by the coming 

 or going of daylight. The digestive workings of 

 owls are extremely economical. In summer the 

 birds have enormous ajjpetites, and become fran- 

 tic with hunger if not fed every forty or fifty 

 hours. In winter, on the contrary, the mature 

 birds fast for a week or more without complaint. 

 During the winter of 1889-90 I could not ascer- 

 tain that Fluffy ate anything for more than a 

 month — that is, from Christmas-time until the 

 first week in February. Throughout this period 

 he seemed well, though inclined to keep quiet 

 and to stay in the darkest corner of the cellar. 

 When fed regularly and amply, all the species 



