THE LITTLE OWL 41 
position is changed, and years of teaching will 
be thrown to the winds, as it will be hard indeed 
to persuade the average thick-headed keeper that 
he was not right all along, and that every owl of 
every sort ought to be shot at sight and nailed 
to the pole. So much for benevolent intentions 
of increasing the variety of a country’s fauna. 
Nearly always it is best not to interfere with 
Nature’s order, and the rabbit pest in Australia, 
and the sparrows in America, are already known 
to most as illustrations of this fact. 
The Little Owl makes a quaint pet, and 
thrives well in confinement; its antics and poses 
are really droll, and the big eyes look at you with 
a seeming deep intelligence. This is the owl, by 
the way, that, by the ancient Greeks, was made 
sacred to Pallas Athene and used as a symbol of 
wisdom ; furthermore, it was engraved on many of 
their coins. 
In Egypt it is everywhere—in town and 
country, in ruined temples, dismal tombs, and 
gardens bright with flowers and sunshine. I have 
seen it sitting on the upright poles of shadoofs, 
and on the tops of high stalks of growing maize, 
and once I saw it, in broad daylight, on the back of 
a recumbent buffalo. 
6 
