At Home with Wild Nature 



deck in measured strides. Peeping from beneath my 

 coverlet of damp sailcloth I asked this venerable 

 mixture of hardihood and superstition what the sad 

 sounds meant. " Whales a-blowin', sir," he answered. 

 66 Herrin's about; pity we ain't got the right nets 

 out." 



Since those days I have heard leviathans breathing 

 by day and by night in many waters, and always with 

 the same depressing result. 



Owls as a family are birds of the night, and lift up 

 their weird voices in some of the most lonesome corners 

 of the land. The " Tu whit too whoo " of the brown 

 or wood owl is familiar to nearly every dweller in the 

 countryside, and many people, of course, know that the 

 highly pitched, far-heard cry, sounding very like 

 " Keebits," emanates from the same source. 



In the springtime, when the little owl lightly turns 

 his thoughts to love, he uses a fine long-drawn musical 

 note, which, in the darkness, may easily be mistaken 

 for that of some migrant passing overhead. He can 

 also imitate the mewing of a cat or the squealing of a 

 rabbit with surprising ease and success. 



According to popular belief owls are dumb and 

 blind by day and their activities are entirely nocturnal. 

 This is a great mistake. I have on several occasions 

 heard the brown owl hooting just as vociferously at 

 noon as at midnight, and have proved by experiments 

 that it can see much better in the brightest sunlight 

 than in the blackest darkness. Twilight, as a matter 

 of fact, is the owl's favourite hunting time. 



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