212 WOODLAND CREATURES 



the common smaller species, and as it rose it 

 exposed its orange and black spotted stomach, 

 while the crest along its back and tail waved 

 elegantly. The owl bent his head lower and 

 lower, then moved it round in circles as if focusing 

 his eyes, and at the moment when the newt 

 reached the surface of the water he dropped, 

 with his right foot extended, and neatly picked 

 his victim from the water, whence he bore it 

 to the back of the chair. Having gravely 

 inspected it, and put back the whiskerlike 

 feathers round his beak, he nipped its head so 

 as to still its wrigglings, and with a gulp 

 swallowed it. 



Many experiments were tried with this owl 

 to see what he would and would not eat. 

 Beetles he was fond of, and he would take most 

 dark-coloured insects, but conspicuously coloured 

 ones were usually refused after being once 

 sampled, while after tasting a " woolly bear " 

 he spent ten minutes cleaning his beak and hence- 

 forward refused all hairy caterpillars. One day 

 he tried a toad, but again his beak required a 

 great deal of wiping and he never touched another. 



The way owls hunt their prey demands a keen 

 sense of hearing as well as of sight, but it is a 

 curious fact that, though both their ears are very 

 large, the one on one side of the head is often 

 larger than that on the other. 



The hoot of the Tawny Owl seems to be both 

 a call and a challenge, and the time to hear the 

 nightly concert at its best is in November and 



