30 OWLS 



Hence his cry, "whoo, whoo," which implies that 

 he is cold. Hence his shivering on St Agnes Eve, 

 "in spite of all his feathers." Hence his isolation 

 by day, and his solitary flights by night, and the 

 persecution he suffers, if his enemies ever catch 

 sight of him in daylight. And what about the 

 "baker's daughter?" Christ, as the legend goes, 

 feeling an hungered one day, went into a baker's 

 shop to beg for a bit of bread. The baker was 

 ready enough to give it, but his daughter demurred ; 

 and when her father, in spite of her protests, put 

 the dough into the oven and it began to swell, she 

 murmured again at the waste, with a "whoo, 

 whoo, whoo," a sound which suggested to the 

 Saviour that she should be turned into the bird 

 whose cry her protest most resembled, lest she 

 should encourage others by her example, to refuse 

 bread to the hungry or clothes to the naked ! 



One more proof, if such be needed, may be 

 given here that the barn owl, if other birds are 

 enemies to him, is no enemy to them. What was 

 once thought to be the most damning evidence 

 against him, turns out, on further investigation, to 

 be the clearest testimony in his behalf. It has long 

 been known that he sometimes selects for his habita- 

 tion one of those picturesque dovecots which are 



