"Whew!" exclaims Bobbie. "Here's another Owl. I never knew there were so
many different species, mamma."
Mamma smiled at that word "species." It was a word Bobbie had learned in
his study of BIRDS.
"The _Saw-whet Owl_," said she, looking at the picture. "A good looking
little fellow, but not handsome as the Snowy Owl in the June number of
BIRDS."
"He _was_ a beauty," assented Bobbie, "such great yellow eyes looking at
you out of a snow bank of feathers. This little fellow's feet have on
black shoes with yellow soles, not white fur overshoes like the _Snowy
Owl's_."
"His eyes glow like topaz, though, just as the others did," said mamma.
"Let us see what he says about himself.
"As stupid as an Owl. That's the way some people talk about us. Then
again I've heard them say, 'tough as a b'iled owl.' B'iled Owls may be
tough, I don't know anything about that, for I have been too shy and
wary to be caught.
"I had a neighbor once who was very fond of chickens. He was a Night Owl
and said he found it easy to catch them when roosting out at night. Well
he caught so many that Mr. Owl grew very fat, and the farmer whose
chickens he ate, caught, cooked, and ate him. His flesh, the farmer
said, was tender and sweet. So, my little friends, when you want to call
anything 'tough,' don't mention the Owl any more.
"A foreigner?
"Oh, my, no! I'm proud to say I am an American, and so are all my folks.
A branch of the family, however, lives way up north in a region where
they sing 'God save the Queen' instead of the 'Star Spangled Banner.'
They call themselves English Owls, I guess, because they live on British
soil.
"Do I sing?
"Well, not exactly. I can hoot though, and my _Ah-ee, ah-ee_, _ah-oo,
ah-oo_, has a pleasant sound, very much like filing a saw. That is the
reason they call me the Saw-whet Owl. My mate says it doesn't sound that
way to her, but then as she hasn't any ears maybe she doesn't hear very
well.
"You never see me out in the day time, no indeed! I know when the mice
come out of their holes; I am very fond of mice, also insects. I like
small birds, too--to eat--but I find them very hard to catch.
"Don't you?"
[Illustration: From col. Chi. Acad. Sciences.
SAW-WHET OWL.
Copyright by
Nature Study Pub. Co., 1898, Chicago.]