DOVE DALE REVISITED 45 



The mention of these owls in the woods 

 reminds me of a delightful article on owls in 

 "The Nineteenth Century" for this month, 

 November, 1902, by Mr. R. Bosworth Smith. 

 He tells us that there are "three varieties of 

 the bird which are to be found in England : 

 the white, the brown, and the long-eared owl." 



The white owl is also known as the barn 

 and the screech owl, because of his rasping, 

 piercing shriek. The brown or tawny owl is 

 the one whose "most musical, most melan- 

 choly " tu-who-oo we heard in the woods. The 

 following lines are from Mr. Smith's essay, 

 presumably by himself: 



" I would mock thy chant anew; 



But I cannot mimic it ; 

 Not a whit of thy tu-whoo, 



Thee to woo to thy tu-whit, 



Thee to woo to thy tu-whit, 

 With a lengthen'd loud halloo, 

 Tu-whoo, tu-whit, tu-whit, tu-whoo-o-o." 



Mr. Smith plainly shows in his charming essay 

 that these three kinds of owls, all of which are 

 most destructive of rats and mice, are wholly 

 innocent of the crimes of which all gamekeepers 

 accuse them. He concludes by a strong appeal 

 for their strict preservation. 



