BIRDS OF THE NIGHT 211 



was full fledged and able to earn his own living, 

 when I let him loose into the surrounding trees. 

 Here he remained for some time, returning each 

 evening to the owl's house for food, but at 

 last he began to hunt for himself. " The 

 Owlet " subsequently found a mate, and for 

 many seasons this pair have nested in a hollow 

 tree near the house. 



Hooter flourished for ten years, and up to 

 the day of his death looked as well as ever, but 

 fate overtook him in the shape of a fox-terrier. 

 Apparently the dog, which was a mischievous 

 little demon, had been jumping up the wire 

 netting of the owl's enclosure in an effort to get 

 at Old Hooter sitting on his perch inside. 

 Evidently the owl became annoyed, and flew 

 at the dog, which grabbed him and pulled him 

 through the fencing. The terrier went off the 

 premises next day 



Before turning from Hooter to his wild relatives, 

 I must mention an incident of which he was the 

 hero, namely the disappearance of a number of 

 newts from an aquarium. The newts had been 

 getting mysteriously less, and it had been a 

 puzzle how they had got out of the tank, when 

 one morning I saw the owl sitting on the back 

 of a chair and gazing into the aquarium. I 

 waited and watched. In a few moments one 

 of the newts, which had been lying quietly on 

 the gravel at the bottom of the tank, gave a flip 

 of its tail and began to rise to the top of the 

 water for air. It was a beautiful little male of 



