470 DAN BEARD'S ANIMAL BOOK 



he did so much damage and injury to property and 

 persons that I took him to the roof of the building 

 and gave him his liberty. 



One day we were all working quietly at our 

 easels when my eldest brother, J. Carter Beard, 

 suddenly pushed back his chair to reach for a 

 crayon which he had dropped on the floor. The 

 big owl was dozing on his perch on top the half- 

 opened door to a closet and was startled by the 

 sudden movement of my brother, which, owl-like, 

 he interpreted to mean battle. Ever ready for a 

 fight he sailed down from the door with such sud- 

 denness and vigor that when he struck my brother 

 he upset both him and the chair. Another owl of 

 the same kind which was owned by William H. 

 Beard, my uncle, displayed none of the fierceness 

 of the last two; on the contrary this owl of my 

 artist uncle was full of quaint tricks and odd 

 amusements; its particular plaything was an old 

 bladeless pocket-knife which he never tired of 

 pouncing upon when it was thrown out in the yard ; 

 he particularly delighted in extracting the knife 

 from holes or crevices where it was placed to amuse 

 him, but the oddest adventure with an owl was 

 when the one in my studio was attacked by the pet 

 bull-frog which lived in a glass globe hanging un- 

 der the owl perch: this story, however, properly 

 belongs with that of the bull-frog where the reader 

 can find it. 



Some time ago there was a lengthy discussion 

 in some of the sportsmen's magazines about ice- 



