Il6 IN SPRING. 



camp-fire. Their hooting varied not a whit, but 

 merely grew more distinct, and for long I 

 thought them capable of no other utterance, but 

 how great an error this was evident, when at last 

 one of these huge birds perched in the oak that 

 sheltered my tent. The melancholy hoo-hoo- 

 hoo ! was the same, but with this were a host of 

 minor notes, and these were once followed by 

 a series of explosive, ill-tempered ejaculations 

 when the little red owls that had their home in 

 this same oak scolded without ceasing at the in- 

 trusion. I can liken the hubbub to nothing but 

 the subdued clamor of excited geese. In like 

 manner I was scolded by the little owl on the 

 meadow hickory. The moonlit September night 

 on the bluff of Brush Creek was vividly recalled. 

 Owls need but to be more closely studied, 

 and, if in confinement, to be treated with kind- 

 ness and attended by one person, to demonstrate 

 that all the wisdom seeming to lurk behind their 

 expressive faces is really there. In matters of 

 animal intelligence I know that I am heterodox, 

 for I give the crow prominence equal to the par- 

 rot, and strongly doubt if owls should stand 

 much behind them. 



