224 
Mil Little Owls. 
My Little Owls (Athene nochm). 
By The Marquis of Tavistock. 
(Contiiined from page 18G). 
One evening in late December, however, Mrs. Peeps 
was sitting near me on tlie top of a cag'e, when Peops jum])e;d 
up beside her. I expected the usual squabble, but although 
Peeps began to squeak at her much as he usually did wlien 
about to attack, his squeak.s had lost something of their trucu- 
lenoe and there was a new note in his voice, Mrs. Peeps 
was quick to notice the change and responded in a friendly 
way. A moment later the stormy past was forgotten, and the 
erstwhile foes had fallen desperately in love! I have watched 
many bird courtships; the extravagant display of the Black- 
cock and its polygamous allies; the refined and dignified ad- 
vances of the Broad-tail Parrakeets; the tactless and immoder- 
ate wooings of the Dove family. Rut nevcM' in my life have 
I seen any tiling so curious, so charming and so wholly ridicul- 
ous as the first love-j^assages between Peeps uiid his mate. 
There was no ■" display " in the strict sense ol' the term, al- 
though the devoted couple, by half closing their eyes and ap- 
pearing to erect the feathers of the facial disc, gave them- 
selves an odd and it must be confessed, rather foolish expres- 
sion. But the conversation that went on- and the outpouring 
of " sweet nothings ! " I had long been aware that Peeps 
possessed a very remarkable vocabulary, but never before that 
evening had I had any idea of its really wonderful extent; 
for nearly half an hour he and Mrs. Peeps, sitting side by 
side, whistled and crooned and squeaked and chuckled in every 
imaginable key. Mrs. Peeps remained in a crouching atti- 
tude, turning her head quickly at frequent intervals to gaze 
at her admirer and respond to las endearments. Peeps, close 
beside her, would occasionally bob up to his full height and, 
looking adoringly at his bride, would utter a deep hoarse note 
— ^evidently the most affectionate epithet in Owl language— to 
which she replied with a little soft call, and the stream of 
squeaks and chuckles would flow on as . before, interrupted 
only Ijy pauses for those gentle head nibblings which in the 
bird world take the place of kisses. After this there was no 
more quarrelling and Peeps and his mate occupied the same 
cage in perfect harmony. Hoping to induce them to nest I 
