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patted. He was a greedy contented little 

 person, and although he was christened the 

 " Dancing Master/' he never budged off his 

 perch except at the sight of food. He died 

 from overfeeding. 



Four little Scops' owls were very quaint 

 dainty little birds. When at rest, with their 

 feathers tightly pressed against their sides, as 

 in the pen and ink sketch, and eyes nearly 

 closed, they looked exactly like part of the 

 bough they perched upon. They were very 

 shy, and when frightened would dart like a 

 silent flash into their holes, but only to put an 

 inquisitive little head out in a few moments to 

 see if the coast was clear. 



The little Pigmy-owl was a sweet little 

 creature. The smallest of his species, his 

 proper food is insects. It was difficult to find 

 him the diet he liked in the winter. Getting 

 the right food for each bird was an endless 

 work and pleasure to their master. A large 

 colony of white rats is kept close to the 

 aviaries, and whenever a bird is sick or sorry, 

 one of these is killed and given, quite fresh, to 

 the invalid, and if anything will cure him, it is 

 this great delicacy and natural food. Scores 

 and scores of pike have been wired out of the 

 Test and given to the sea-birds. The excite- 



