214 BIRD PARADISE 



sombre welcome, and put the deeper tone into 

 the music of the forest refrain. Seated on the 

 edge of the ravine, I found special delight in 

 tracing the brook as it wound along to the open 

 field below. There were places where the sun- 

 light filtered through the branches, turning the 

 ripple of the stream into a pile of glittering 

 jewels. But the carpet laid down so gently — 

 woven so deftly — wide and long as all the wood 

 — what a marvelous texture, and how easily it 

 was fitted in all its parts. I could see great folds 

 taken up and laid down again — no workman 

 visible in all the change. 



My little screech-owl has now become a regular 

 visitor. Just at dusk one day he appeared earlier 

 than common and seemed to be in an unusually 

 merry mood. He came close to the house, under 

 my study window, and appeared not in the least 

 shy. Like the crows, he was getting most of his 

 food from the grass. If he has intelligence he 

 makes no showing of it in his appearance, and I 

 conclude that his social development is not more 

 pronounced than his triumphs of intellect. Oc- 

 casionally he gets a return from that small horn 

 of his that really has something musical in its 



