BIRDS OF THE NIGHT 205 



long before he gave up blinking his eyes and 

 snapping his beak whenever he saw me coming, 

 and began instead to give the hunger squeak 

 with which the owlets greet their parents. 

 He was easy to feed, as he could already hold 

 and tear up meat for himself. On mice, 

 sparrows, and rabbit flesh he throve amazingly. 

 It was most amusing to see him deal with a 

 mouse ; he would take it in his beak, transfer 

 it to his foot, and look at it intently as if to 

 see whether it was really dead ; then, seeming 

 doubtful on the point, would give its head a sharp 

 pinch with his beak, crushing its skull so that 

 the matter was placed beyond doubt, after 

 which he proceeded to swallow it. As a rule 

 the body disappeared at one gulp, just the end 

 of its tail being left behind hanging out of the 

 corner of his mouth, and another effort was 

 necessary to get the last part down. He would 

 then sit quite quiet for a few minutes, evidently 

 giving the mouse time to get comfortably 

 disposed in his crop, but he was soon ready for 

 a second. 



Hooter became very tame, and by the time 

 he had acquired his full plumage was well 

 acquainted with the members of the house- 

 hold, including the dogs, being on most friendly 

 terms with all ; but the minute strangers 

 appeared he snapped his beak, drew his feathers 

 tightly around him, and glared angrily at them. 

 Even among those he knew well he had his 

 likes and dislikes, generally preferring women to 



