CHAPTER LVII 

 THE OWLS 



ALL gloom-loving birds have always the mystery of crepus- 

 cule attached to them ; their very distinction is due to their 

 uncommon feeding hour, grotesque appearance, and solemn 

 vacuity ; for, far from being a bird of wisdom, the owl is, like 

 many a solemn savage, a low type intellectually, solemnity 

 and mediocrity being oft found together, two qualities that 

 impose upon the superficial observer merely. 



Three kinds frequent the^ broadlands the barn or church 

 owl, the long-eared or horn-owl, and the little short-eared 

 or " marsh-owl," as he is commonly called in Norfolk. 



THE BARN-OWL. 



When the silvery mists are rising and lurking on marsh 

 and mere like phantoms, you may hear the shrill screech 

 of the barn-owl as he beats with heavy flight round the 

 stacks and out-buildings of some lone marsh-farm in search 

 of mice or young rats his staple foods. 



At all seasons of the year you may see this bird hawking 

 through the gloom, and if you be an expert with your lips 

 shutting them tightly, and suddenly drawing your breath 

 in, making a squeaking kind of noise you may decoy him 

 to fly between you and the stars ; but his large eyes detect 

 the fraudulent imitation, and he flies contemptuously over- 

 head to some big ivy-green tree or stack to meditate on that 

 absurd creature man ; but that is one way to shoot him. 

 Another, practised upon " softs," is to give them a sieve, 



