WHEN MARCH WINDS BLOW. 129 



himself strictly to either of the localities I have 

 mentioned. The bleached torey- grass of a shel- 

 tered hillside suits him quite as well. When my 

 readers are looking at either of the three owls 

 I have mentioned in the Zoological Gardens or 

 in the South Kensington Natural History Museum, 

 I trust they will give them credit for possessing 

 all the qualities they may appear to be deficient 

 in. I have watched them for many years. One 

 of the pets I have described elsewhere a little 

 owl was my constant companion when I was at 

 home : in my painting-room, and on my writing- 

 table, often has the fine bird taken up my pen or 

 one of my pencils and gravely examined it, looking 

 the while as if he wondered why I could use either 

 so long without playing with him or talking to 

 him. It seems to me as though the spirit of de- 

 struction reigns supreme in some ignorant natures : 

 some would shoot their own mother if they found 

 her with a large pair of wings fixed by some 

 mysterious millinery process to her shoulders. 

 With such, however, we have nothing to do. 



If the fieldfare come to grief, it is through the 

 brown owl or the short-eared owl ; for the short - 



I 



