THE TAWNY OWL. 
17S 
less creatures are guilty of the preposterous act. 
Notwithstanding the apprehensions of the dairy- 
I maid, 1 now and then venture to purchase a captive 
hedgehog, and turn it into the park ; there to live 
and die in peace. 
It was but the other day that a neighbouring young 
lady complained to me of an owl which had been 
hooting, for three or four successive nights, far too 
near her bedroom windows ; and she wished indeed 
that it were shot. I startled as she uttered this, for 
it instantly occurred to me that the bird of which 
she complained might possibly be one which was 
bred here last summer : and that its propensity to 
night-errantry had brought it into a scrape. So 1 
tried to persuade her that nothing but sheer curiosity 
could have induced the owl to take the undue liberty 
of peeping in at her window ; and I was sure that it 
: could have seen nothing there to displease it. 
I have never heard an owl, either in Europe or in 
America, that utters sounds so nearly resembling 
the human voice as those which our tawny owl sends 
forth. Here, where all is still, and every thing to 
be found that is inviting to the feathered race, this 
bird will hoot at intervals throughout the day, both 
in cloudy and in sunny weather. Were you to pro- 
nounce the letter O in a loud and very clear tone of 
voice, and then, after a short pause, repeat the same 
letter in a drawling, tremulous accent, you would 
have a tolerably just idea of the hooting of the 
tawny owl. It will sometimes produce a sharp cry, 
which sounds not unlike the word quo-ah : both 
male and female utter this cry. 
