MADAM OWL AND THE CHICKENS. 



"Two chickens last night, and one the night before!" I ex- 

 claimed. " This must certainly be stopped, Thomas, or we shal] 

 have no chickens left. What do you think has killed them, — a 

 dog, or a cat, or a hawk?" 



" Well, ma'am," said Thomas, " I think it is a hawk ; but if you 

 will give me a piece of mosquito-netting I can very soon find 

 out." 



So I brought a piece of netting, and Thomas fastened it over 

 the top of the large, open coop in which the chickens lived. The 

 next morning I went out early, to see if the hawk was caught, and 

 there, instead of a hawk, was a brown owl, fluttering about, beat- 

 ing her wings against the net, and rolling her great yellow eyes 

 wildly. Her hooked talons were entangled in the meshes of the 

 net, and she could neither get out nor in ; but she was making a 

 terrible commotion, and the little chickens and their mother Avere 

 frightened nearly to death, and cowered, trembling, and "peep- 

 ing," in the farthest corner of the coop. 



"Well, madam," I said; "so I have caught you at last. What 

 do you mean by stealing my chickens ? " 



"I have a large family, ma'am," replied the owl, "and must have 

 some food for them. You would not have me neglect my children, 

 would you? " 



" Certainly not," I said. " But you ought to be able to main- 

 tain your children honestly, without stealing. My hens do not 

 steal." 



