208 WOODLAND CREATURES 



store up spare food, but think it is extremely 

 probable, for it has been a marked trait in the 

 character of all the captive owls I have met with. 

 Hooter was most particular over his toilet, 

 preening his feathers carefully and repeatedly, 

 and indulging in frequent baths. In most 

 correct fashion he washed in the bath-room, 

 where he soaked himself nearly every morning 

 in a pan of water, splashing it far and wide, 

 until he at last emerged more like a drowned 

 rat than anything else, after which he would 

 go to the sunniest spot he could find and spread 

 out his wings and tail to dry. He never bathed 

 in the same water twice, and if I forgot to 

 change it, went without a bath until I remembered. 

 How fond owls are of washing is shown by the 

 fact that I have caught wild owls, both the Brown 

 and the Barn, in the act. One of the former 

 was surprised bathing in a little stream. The 

 noise of the brook, rushing over its rocky bed, 

 drowned my footsteps on the fallen leaves, green 

 moss, and little crackling twigs. The afternoon 

 was advancing, and the sinking autumn sun shot 

 long streamers of light through the partly denuded 

 trees, and gilded with gold a great boulder that 

 lay in my path. As I rounded it, stepping 

 carefully to avoid slipping on the moss and 

 liverwort-grown stones, a brown form rose from 

 the shallow rippling water but three yards 

 off it was a Tawny Owl taking a bath, and 

 as it fled away it scattered glittering drops of 

 water behind it, showering them on the rank 



