226 My Little Owls. 
the pair were out for exercise, Mrs. Peeps being engaged in 
amusing herself on the ground while her mate watched her 
benignantly from the top of the wardrolje, I noticed a sudden 
change. Every trace of benignity left Peeps' countenance, 
he gave a quick glance at his wife, looked hard across the j-oom, 
while his wings began to droop and his back feathers to rise 
ominously; next moment he dropped like a thunderbolt on 
the unsuspecting Mrs. Peeps. She, for her part, was so 
much astonished at the onslaught that for a moment she 
hardly knew what to do; then in very natural indignation she 
turned upon her enraged spouse and a most distressing family 
scene ensued in which I v/as obliged to interfere. A judici- 
ous distribution of mealworms, however, soon established a 
better state of feeling and in a few minutes the j)air were fond- 
ling one another as though they had never had a disagreement 
in their lives. But for several days in succession the same 
thing happened and I was at my wits' end to discover what 
it was that produced such a sudden and extraordinary resent- 
ment on Peeps' part against his unoffending and usually 
beloved wife. In the end, however, the mystery was solved. 
I noticed that Peeps' fits of passion always began when he 
was occupying the same perch on the top of the wardrobe, 
and on climbing to its level I found that it exactly faced la 
large mirror on the opposite wall. When Peeps was on the 
top of the wardrobe he could see his own reflection in the glass, 
and although he did not take much notice of it under ordinary 
circumstances, it VK-as clear that he now regarded the third 
pai'ty as a rival for whose presence his wife was solely re- 
sponsible — hence his sudden outbursts of jealous ragel On 
the wardrobe being moved to another part of the room. Peeps' 
good humour was permanently restored. By March the mutual 
affection of Peeps and his mate had reached its height, and 
I began to have great hopes of a nest. Whenever I gave 
Peeps a tit -bit of any kind he would go and offer it to her; 
indeed, so greatly did he enjoy practising the new virtue of 
unselfishness that in excess of zeal he would frequently snatch 
the morsel from her beak before she had time to swallow it 
in order to have the exquisite pleasure of presenting it to 
her again 1 Mrs. Peeps was hardly less devoted. If I g;ave 
her a mealworm, she would utter a little soft cry and 
scamper off to bestow it on Peeps. £[e, being unwilling to 
