WAYS OF THE OWL. 203 



of owls with which I have had any experience 

 cast from their mouths egg-shaped " pellets," 

 composed of the bone and hair, fish-scales, and 

 feathers which remain in their stomachs after 

 the digestion of the more nutritious parts of re- 

 cent meals. This ejection is accomplished easily 

 and quickly, with very little visible muscular 

 action. It usually, or at least often, takes place 

 at the moment when the owl has another hearty 

 meal in view. The owls' furnaces burn nearly 

 all that goes into them. Considering the amount 

 of fuel put in, the extremely small amount of 

 ashes is wonderful. 



In disposition my owls vary widely. The 

 barred owls are — as owls go — remarkably 

 sweet-tempered and gentle. I never have seen 

 one offer violence to another, even when two 

 were struggling over a morsel which both were 

 determined to have. Snowdon is sullen, stupid, 

 cowardly, and treacherous. The great-horned 

 has a temper, but he generally keeps it concealed 

 under an air of dignified reserve. My screech 

 owls, when not shamming sleep or death, were 

 irritable, quarrelsome, and ferocious. Between 

 my three barred owls there are individual differ- 

 ences in disposition, which are readily learned 

 but not easily described. They stand out dis- 

 tinctly in my mind as three characters, just as 

 three children or three horses would be distin- 



