62 OWLS 



is worth quoting here both for the affection it shows 

 for the sacred bird, and also for the reverence for 

 Greek culture and ideals, which it indicates as still 

 lingering in a country which is apt to look forward 

 rather than backward, and to care more for material 

 wealth than for historical and spiritual associations. 



" O thou wise bird Athena made her own, 

 Did Instincts' pulses beat within thy heart, 

 When, in this College hall, thy wings found rest, 

 Above the picture of her matchless throne ? 



" Or wast thou here at favouring moment thrown, 

 By breeze Favonian, to remind us lest 

 Our faith in old ideals, long professed 

 Be like the Parthenon's columns overthrown ? 



" It matters not ; we take thee as thou art, 

 And house thee safe and warm in every heart, 



For ne'er before was spectacle like this, 

 And now away the centuries are rolled 

 And in supremest splendour, as of old, 



Up towers the temple-crowned Acropolis." 



While the female brown owl is sitting, the male 

 bird usually keeps watch and ward on an adjoining 

 tree, ready to do battle for her and hers against 

 all comers. Many years ago, in the parish of 

 Stafford, I was swarming up an elm-tree towards 

 a large hole half-way up, which seemed likely to 

 contain some treasure-trove. When I was some few 



