VI 



TOMMY 



THE STORY OF AN OWL 



Among the many and various strangers within my 

 gates who have helped to enliven the days of my 

 exile, Tommy was one towards whom I still feel 

 a certain sense of obligation because he taught me 

 for the first time what an owl is. For Tommy was 

 an owl. From any dictionary you may ascertain 

 that an owl is a nocturnal, carnivorous bird, of a 

 short, stout form, with downy feathers and a large 

 head ; and if that does not satisfy you, there is no 

 lack of books which will furnish fuller and more 

 precise descriptions. 



But descriptions cannot impart acquaintance. I 

 had sought acquaintance and had gained some 

 knowledge such as books cannot supply, not only 

 of owls in general, but of that particular species of 

 owls to which Tommy belonged, who, in the heral- 

 dry of ornithology, was Carine brahma, an Indian 

 spotted owlet. This branch of the ancient family 

 of owls has always been eccentric. It does not 

 mope and to the moon complain. It flouts the moon 



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