i;6 WOODLAND, MOOR, AND STREAM 



nearest relative. He prefers marshes, and rough, 

 broken, rushy ground, and he will fly about and catch 

 his food in the daytime. 



The hawk owl, scop-eared or little horned owl, and 

 mottled owl can only be spoken of as visitors, few and 

 far between. 



The little owl, last on our list, is one of these rare 

 visitors. He is well named, for he is the mannikin of 

 his tribe ! well shaped, active, and good-tempered, he 

 is a great favourite on the continent, for he makes a 

 most amusing pet. The Dutchmen are considered to 

 be a stolid, serious people, but under that gravity 

 there must be a strong undercurrent of humour, or 

 they would surely not choose the little owl as a pet 

 and companion. I have one of my own, and I set 

 him down as a bird of priceless value, for he has the 

 power to make me laugh when I should be least in 

 the mood for it. 



In the exquisitely finished pictures of the Dutch 

 masters you will see him represented ; and we all 

 know that the domestic life of Holland is faithfully 

 depicted on those panels and canvases. Jan Steen 

 and Teniers have introduced him into their paintings. 

 In the painting of * The Jealous Wife/ for instance, 

 there is the little owl perched on the window shutter, 

 contemplating that aged man holding sweet converse 



