210 WOODLAND CREATURES 



dared not give him his liberty for fear he should 

 fly at persons out of doors. 



Just at this time I was offered a female Tawny 

 Owl, so accepted her to keep Hooter company. 

 He did not seem much attracted by her, often 

 flying at her and knocking her head over heels ; 

 however, she bore his ill-treatment meekly 

 she was considerably bigger than he and 

 eventually they settled down. As spring 

 approached it became evident that Hooter was 

 behaving very differently, and soon it was obvious 

 that they had mated. A nesting box gave them 

 great satisfaction, and he spent half his time 

 jumping in and out of it. When I went into 

 the place he would hop on to my shoulder, 

 gurgle down my ear, jump into the box and turn 

 round and round therein, cooing all the time, 

 and when his mate actually laid an egg his 

 excitement knew no bounds. Alas ! the eggs were 

 soon broken and the attempt at nesting came 

 to nothing. The following year I obtained a 

 couple of eggs from a nest in the wood, and 

 gave them to the tame pair in place of their 

 own, as I thought the latter were probably thin 

 shelled. With the wild eggs they had better 

 luck, and succeeded in hatching one. The parents 

 lavished the greatest care on the owlet ; indeed, 

 Hooter had been most attentive to his mate 

 the whole time she was sitting, carrying food 

 to her and driving off all unwelcome intruders. 

 The young owl flourished exceedingly and grew 

 at a great pace, so that by early summer he 



