WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 11 



it in pleasant anticipation of mouse, finishing up 

 with the bark when the bird springs from his rest- 

 ing-place. All this was done to perfection by the 

 boy; but the master-touches were yet to come. 

 With a small piece of twig he rattled tick, tick, 

 tick, tick, tick, like the short patter of a mouse 

 on dry leaves; for all mice travel intermittingly, 

 there is a short rush, and then a halt for a few 

 seconds. No owl was visible yet, but the bird had 

 got close to, when he heard the rustle. As the 

 lad squeaked as a mouse will when he runs at 

 night, he looked up and pointed : there was the 

 owl ready for his mouse. When the bird caught 

 sight of us, he departed in the same noiseless 

 fashion in which he had arrived. 



I have not heard white owls hoot, they do hoot 

 at times, or bark; but the eagle-owl, wood-owl, 

 long-eared owl, and the short-eared owl, together 

 with the little owl, also the coquimbo or prairie- 

 owl, all bark and mew at times. The little owl as a 

 good barker surpasses all the others ; he has barked 

 at me many a time. When the long -eared owls 

 have young ones, you can hear these mewing in 

 the woods at dusk, just like a lot of kittens. 



