Great Hoened Owl


 

 



Snowy Owl


 


Bar Owl



 



Pygmy Owl



 



Long Eared Owl


 


Laughing Owl







 OWL



A TALK WITH THE CHILDREN.



WHAT have we here? "Why, don't you know? It is an owl," I hear some bright-eyed little boy say. But what is an owl?" Why, it is a great big bird, with big round eyes; and it lives in the woods," says a little girl. Oh yes, you all know, don't you?

But I wonder how many of you have ever seen an owl, a real live one. I hear hundreds of little voices crying out, "I have! I have!" "I saw one in the woods when I was bringing up the cows one night last summer, and it made such a funny noise that I was afraid," says a little country boy.

"Willie Brown's big brother caught one, and Willie has it in a cage; and when I went up to his house, me and Willie fed it; and it tried to bite us, it did," says another eager-faced little fellow. "And I saw one when I went with mamma to the museum," says a little city girl. Yes, but that was only a stuffed owl, not a live one, was it? And so I hear your answers coming. How nice it would be to hear you all tell your stories about the owls! Well, the owl is a strange bird. In the day-time, when we are at work or play, he stays in an old hollow tree or some such place, and sleeps; but at night, when the woods grow still and dim, and we want to sleep, he comes out from his hiding place and cries, "Tu whit! Tu whoo! Tu whit! Tu whoo!" It is enough to frighten any one who has never heard him hoot and scream, and we do not blame the little boy for being afraid. 

And queer eyes the owl must have; for he can see in the dark better than in the light. Did you ever notice how wise he looks at you out of his great eyes?

The owl is a great hunter. He usually eats mice, small birds, moths, beetles, and other insects. These he catches in the night, but when the morning dawns, back he goes to his home in the old hollow tree. Ah! A right gladsome life he leads. Poets have written many funny verses about the owl. One we will write here for you to read. I wonder if you can all understand it.



"So when the night falls, 

And the dogs do howl, Sing ho!

For the reign of the horned owl 

We know not always 

Who are kings by day,

But the king of the night

Is-the old brown owl."





E. B.






 


Burrowing Owl



 






 


Little Owl