BIRDS OF NIGHT. 37 



able food, but they have not seemed to care for 

 starlings, thrushes, or blackbirds ; and of these 

 would only eat the head, apparently under protest. 



If you ever have an owl as a pet, do not get 

 tired of it, or slight it after you have gained its 

 confidence. It will look for and expect the atten- 

 tion and caresses it has been accustomed to ; it 

 is quite an easy matter to break the heart of a 

 bird. I would rather kill with my own hand any 

 pet of mine than give it up to any one, unless 

 he was a greater lover of wild creatures than my- 

 self: and such a one, I fancy, would be hard to 

 find. 



Scapegoats have always existed, and will con- 

 tinue to do so as long as the world spins round. 

 The owl is blamed for much mischief, the real 

 author of which is the murdering, thieving, crafty 

 rat, whose evil deeds are laid to ^he door of a 

 dozen creatures. 



How much cruelty is perpetrated by the bad 

 shot, who is not above letting drive at cheepers ? 

 I cannot understand how such sportsmen ever get an 

 invitation to shoot. As retrievers are not infallible, 

 his victims are not always brought to bag. They 



