78 



THE OOLOGISr 



over the edge. Soon came the answer 

 from below, -'It's all right." Well, I 

 came down out of that tree in less time 

 than I went up. Everything went 

 "lovely" until I reached the last crotch 

 which was so shaped that I could not 

 get below it. At this crisis, while try- 

 ing to get my legs and arms both below 

 that swell, one of those poor ii'ons, I 

 spoke of, gave out entirely and, — well, 

 there was a sensation of motion and 

 darkness followed by a feeling that my 

 feet had been driven through me. and 

 then oblivion. 



The next winter this ti'ee was up- 

 rooted in a great wind. I found by 

 actual measurement, that it was 70 feet 

 from the stump to the nest, and 35 feet 

 to the crotch from which I fell. Verj' 

 few nests ai'e placed as high as that in 

 my vicinity. The nest was 3 feet wide 

 and nearly as high, made entirely of 

 dead sticks, some of them large enough 

 to remind one of the description of those 

 used by the Osprey. It was not hollow- 

 ed out much and had no lining what- 

 ever. If it was ever used by any Hawk 

 the Owls had certainly altered it beyond 

 recognition. 



It is my advice to all who contem- 

 plate any climbing to send to "Lattiu" 

 and get a pair of his climbers which 

 don't 'give out.' I didn't get home un- 

 til four that afternoon and to this day 

 I feel the effects of that fall. 



But to come back to my subject, I 

 cannot tell exactly how we came to 

 fasten that name on him, but- Rhoder- 

 ick Dhu he was chiistened and called 

 Rhoderick for short. He grew rapidly, 

 eating all the fresh meat that came his 

 way. Even when quite small (a ball of 

 down about 6 inches high with two fluffy 

 ear-tufts) he would swallow mice and 

 small birds whole and at two months he 

 would swallow a rat, leaving the tail 

 outside until he could stow it a'vay. 

 He always swallowed his food head 

 first, if anj' head was to be found. We 

 had many opportunities to watch him 



eject the little balls of fur and bones .^. 

 He would select a broad, flat perch,, 

 a beam in the barn (we often carriad 

 him there before he could fly) suited 

 him best, stretch his neck and lean for- 

 ward until the tip of his beak touched 

 the beam or othei perch, and then 

 would follow the most comical con- 

 tortions you could imagine and the 

 ball would roll to Ihe floor. Rhoderick 

 would then l)link his eyes several times^ 

 as he settled in shape on his perch and 

 look around in a knowing way that 

 was laughable. 



Soon the wing qnills came out and 

 he found that Ihey assisted him in 

 hopping so at once he began to use- 

 them. Before this his manner of loco- 

 motion was most laughable. It con- 

 sisted of a number of long hops, a 

 resting spell and then another series- 

 of hops. As he experienced much dif- 

 ficulty in keeping his balance when hop- 

 ping, he made a most ludicrous figure. 

 He would hop all the way from the- 

 barn to the house, a distance of 150 

 feet, get over the sill into the kitchen 

 whore the women were at work, and 

 with th": help of his wings, at first vei-y 

 laboriucsly but later on with the great- 

 est of ensl^ place himself in a chair- 

 where he would sit contentedly for two- 

 hours. 



No joke intended, for in spite of 

 their solitary reputation this Owl cer- 

 tainly liked company. 



One morning when we went to feed 

 Rhoderick he. was not to be found. 

 Finally my father spied him perched' 

 on the ridge of the house. Then the- 

 truth flashed over us, Rhoderick could 

 fly! My brother u ent up on the roof 

 but Mr. Owl gave a flap of his wings 

 as if to say "No you don't," and flew 

 across the garden, but his flight was. 

 weak and he soon came to the ground) 

 where he was found and taken back,, 

 never to take another long fly, for as~ 

 we did not wish to clip his wings we- 

 shut him up in a I'oom fitted for his 

 accommodation. 



