The Screech Owl 313 



The little owls soon came to know my voice. When 

 I called his name, Billy in particular would give me 

 his peculiar cry of a, even before I was in sight. 

 If he failed to answer, I always tried to get him to 

 * speak ' before I would give him his portion of food. 

 It was evident that this sound expressed with him 

 more than one thing, and it seemed to me to be dif- 

 ferently accented on dififerent occasions. I did not 

 think at the time that this training would serve in 

 any particular way, except that it would probably 

 strengthen certain points that have to do with animal 

 inteUigence. Upon arriving home one day, how- 

 ever, I was told that Billy and Betty had escaped, and 

 that, although the basement had been thoroughly 

 searched, neither could be found. I myself searched 

 the basement again, but with no better success. Fi- 

 nally I called "Billy, BiUy," and Hstened. Billy 

 promptly responded by giving the sound of a, and, 

 guided by the sense of hearing, I found him sitting 

 on the gas pipe close by a joist, with Betty beside him. 



The next morning I put a basin of water into a box, 

 and in a short time Billy was taking a bath, and when 

 he had completed it, he was the wettest bird that I 

 ever saw; even the feathers on the top of his head 

 were wet. After this Billy took a bath very often, 

 but Betty less often. 



