THE SPOTTED OWLET 257 
is very bold, habitually venturing forth in daylight. 
Thus the other birds grow accustomed to it, and do not 
so often molest it. 
During the day the spotted owlet is, of course, civil 
enough to the other birds of its acquaintance. At 
night, however, its manner changes. No sooner has the 
sun sunk below the horizon than it assumes a cock-of- 
the-walk air, and then makes no bones about punching 
the head of a king-crow, or any other bird which ought 
to be abed. 
The spotted owl is a ludicrous little creature. One 
cannot look at it without laughing. The moment the 
bird notices that you are watching it, it crouches in the 
most ridiculous manner, glares at you, and then treats 
you to abuse of which the quality is such that it would 
do credit to any coster. When you begin to laugh, the 
bird flies away in a huff. 
Athene brama lives chiefly on insects, but it will 
attack shrews, mice, lizards, and small birds. Some- 
times an unusually bold owlet ventures inside the bun- 
galow in order to hawk the moths attracted by the 
light. 
The bird breeds in February or March, and lays its 
eggs in the hole of a tree or building. The eggs are 
white, as are those of almost every bird which nests in 
a dark place. Birds cannot count above two, so that if 
eggs which are laid in semi-darkness were not white, 
some of them might become separated from the main 
body without being noticed by the bird, and so fail to 
be hatched. 
In India, as in England, owls are accounted birds of 
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