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eyes under the lapel of my coat, you would have agreed with me that owls were

loving birds. He used to come indoors everj^ Sunday ; and how well he

knew when Sunday had arrived! He was in such a fidget at the door of his cage,

hissing, and fluttering, and beating against the wire-work. He never made

such a fuss upon any other day, but used to sit solemnly blinking close rip

to the wire door, and hardly move all day.


I said he looked solemn ; but how you would have laughed if you had

seen him indoors ! We had a staid, serious old black and white cat, and on

to Tom’s back Tawny would jump, and then ride round and round the room.

If Tom stopped, Tawny would peck just a little wee bit at him, and on

would go Tom again; and then, when Tawny had finished his ride, he would

jump on to the" table, and Tom would give a sigh of relief and curl up in

front of the fire.


Sometimes Tom would try to catch Tawny unawares, and slink up

behind him and give him a tap with his paw; but it was all in play, for they

were good friends at heart, although poor Tom certainly' resented being

used by Tawny as a racer.


I have sometimes given Billy, my big Eagle Owl (Bubo maximus) a

mouse, and have been so amused to watch him eat it. He took it into his

beak instantly, gave a gulp and swallowed it all but the tail. The body of

the mouse, skin, bones, and all, remained in his throat, and the tail hung out

of the corner of his beak very much as a cigarette would in my mouth.

Then Billy would begin to suck at the hypnotised mouse, and to work it

about in his throat, rolling the tail over from one corner of his beak to

another corner, and evidently greatly enjoydng the relishing morsel.


Billy, my Eagle Owl. was a great beauty. I had him for nine years, and

at last he died of bronchitis. We sat up with him, and gave him beef-tea

and brandy, and kept him very warm ; but it was of no use. He died one

night, and I lost a real friend. He became as tame as any bird can ever

become who is carnivorous. He used to eat a quantity of raw meat, and of

course that kept him a bit fierce, but he would let me do with him what¬

ever I wanted to do. His claws were the most dangerous ; they were so big

and so sharp that, without meaning to hurt you, he could do a great deal

of harm with them.


All day long he sat on his perch, just occasionally getting on to the

ground and stretching his great wings out. If anyone came to him, or he

Avas touched with a stick, he would make a sharp snapping noise with his

bill which was very startling to a stranger, and which he accompanied by a

hiss and a short hoot and a cry.


At night he was all on the alert, noiselessly moving about in his cage,

and then suddenly hissing and hooting and snapping his beak.


Billy made a nest once in the cage and laid an egg, and then what

a fuss there was. Two or three other owls were in the aviary, but none dare

come near Billy, and for a few hours there was great commotion. Even¬

tually Billy broke the egg and subsided, and then quiet reigned. He could

puff up his feathers In a most extraordinary manner, making himself appear

almost double his adtual size, and then he really looked a magnificent

creature. He ruled all the other owls, and did they dare to enter his box,

he made no end of a stir, and so excited himself and flapped his great wings

at the offender that very speedily the intruder decamped.


Once however he found his master. I put a little cheeky Irish sparrow-

owl (Strix passerina) into the aviary. He was little bigger than a sparrow,

while Bilty was as big as two full-sized cats rolled into one, but he was “boss

of that show.” He went at once for Billy, who was solemnly blinking m

his own corner, to which no other owl dared even approach. He fluttered

and hissed at Billy till he slowly moved, and then at once Master Sparrow

sat down in his very place, and with bill and claw challenged Billy to move

him. At night Sparrow roosted in Billy’s box, while Billy spent the night

on his perch, but after a while finding a more comfortable place for himself

he permitted Billy to return to his old home. He never, however, allowed



