46 THE HUMAN SIDE OF BIRDS 



part of the body forward, swaying from side to 

 side, and, raising first one foot and then the other, 

 begins to tremble, winks slowly with the eyelids, 

 spits like a cat, and snaps its bill; when angry, its 

 eyes flash fire, it bends forward with hanging wings, 

 ruffles its plumage as much as possible, and, snap- 

 ping and hissing, dashes furiously at the enemy.'* 



The eagle owl is justly hated by all day birds, 

 for he preys on every living creature that comes 

 within his ken. He is a murderer of the lowest de- 

 gree, and seeks the darkness of night to do his vile 

 deeds. He noiselessly enters caves and flies in and 

 out among the trees to kill his prey. Nothing is 

 safe from his moonlight eyes and piercing talons. 

 It is small wonder that this Prince of Darkness, 

 if discovered during the day taking his siesta, is 

 pounced upon by myriads of enemies. 



Nothing sounds more ghost-like than the "Poo- 

 hoo! Poohoo!" of these owl policemen as they sig- 

 nal in the darkness. An entire forest is frightened 

 by their strange and weird noises, so uncanny as 

 to make one's hair or feathers stand up ! Their shrill, 

 mocking laugh, weird imitations of wolves, scream- 

 ing hyenas, and a hissing sound like that of an im- 

 mense serpent — all these are calculated to give rise 

 to strange and ghostly beliefs concerning them. 

 Even the truth of the legend of the wild huntsman 



