134 
DROWNED OUT. 
age to believe some one has been the unfortunate 
subject of an optical illusion, or has tried to de- 
ceive us, than to think that our experience has 
not compassed the universe ! Fortunately for 
the memory of Audubon, within the past few 
years a number of those interesting animals have 
been found. The world has seen : therefore it 
has believed ! 
Mrs. Maxwell obtained three specimens. One 
was drowned out of a prairie-dog hole near 
Boulder by some boys and captured alive. How 
he came to be in somebody else’s home is an 
open question. Perhaps he was trying to ferret 
out the secret of the strange domestic relations 
existing in said house. It’s true he has a taste 
for infant owls and dogs, but then who would say, 
of one since so distinguished, that he was there 
for such a carnal purpose ? 
Be that as it may, he did not fancy the house- 
cleaning those boys instituted for its legitimate 
owners, and astonished them by appearing in a 
half-dead condition at the opening they were 
watching for dogs. 
They did not recognize him, and so took him 
to Mrs. Maxwell. She kept him several months, 
long enough to get pretty well acquainted with 
him. 
In the catalogue Dr. Coues has nlentioned 
most of his leading characteristics, though I 
