The Gathering of the Clans 



JN OT even the owl is as much of a hermit as 

 appears. The little fellow that all summer lo: 

 has slept by day in the hollow apple-tree, a 

 hooted by night from the adjacent tree-tops, ha; 

 taste for company, and when two meet, their hoi 

 ing gives way to a varied range of lowly-mi 

 mured chatterings very different from the conve 

 tional cries of all owldom. Keep a pet one (a 

 they are easily tamed) and you will find them r 

 only as wise as they look, but not averse to roug 

 and-tumble fun. But a few days ago, in my w£ 

 derings, I reached the bank of a river, long af 

 sundown, and pitched my little tent by the fit 

 light of a green-wood camp-fire. Ejaculatic 

 were not smothered, but explosive, and the wh( 

 strange scene brought not one but three little i 

 owls to the front. They, were not afraid, and d 

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