The Somerset reporter., 1893-10-05
STORY TELLING OWLS
THEIR FUlEY YARNS MADE The
ACKNOWLEDGES RING WITH MlRTH.
The Jovial Birds Were 80 Laughter Pro-
voking That the Side Splitting Contagion
Spread to Their Human Auditors, and
Even the Looms IIowled With Delight.

Even the Looms HOW lea W flh itllSit.
"What amused our party most up in
the Adirondacks, = said Scranton man,
was an entertainment given to us by
flock Of story telling owls. Our camp
was away back in the wilderness Of
Herkimer county, aud We had hardly
turned i'll for the night when flock Of
owls alighted on tree over us and be
gan to tell stories and laugh. Every
owl listened in silence to the one that
was talking, and when the tale was fin
ished the whole flock laughed as though
they We're tickled half to death.
They reminded us of lot of drum
mers in smoking car, and they had
such jolly fun it became contagious.
We all rolled and laughed over the fun
the big eyed birds We're having up in the
tree, and before long the side splitting
contagion attacked some looms out on
the lake, which fairly yelled with de
light whenever the fun loving owls guf-
fawed and shrieked and shouted over Il
right good yarn told by one of their
number.
"Once in awhile story was So funny
before the knob was reached that we
could hear two or three of the ,feathered
listeners smoker and chuckle under their
breath, and when the end came tho On
tire flock made the woods ring. Tie
jovial birds had met expressly to swap
experiences of the night before, and
they talked SO plainly that we could
easily keep run of their anecdotes as
we lay on our beds of spruce boughs.
cone of the owls told about how big
yanked itself loose and showed fight
The owl described how he had let the
rat tlatter itself that it was going to lick
him, how he finally bit his tail off at the
root, and how the rat then went squeal
ing and zigzagging around with no rud
der to guide its movements. The picture
SO amused the eager auditors that they
fell into the most violent fits of laughter,
some of them tumbling from their perch
they We're so tickled.
"Another owl described the tussle he
had had with tough old jack hare in "a
swamp. He said that the hare had car
ried him along through the rushes and
over logs for some distance after he had
got his claws in its back, and that he at
last brought the hareup standing by keep
ing one claw Ill lis hide and catching hold
of a bush with his other claw. The hare
rolled over and over as soon as the owl
let go of the bush, and the owl said that
his feathers pointed III all directions
when he hnally got the best OF the hare.
Peal after peal of laughter followed the
narrative.
Another Owl told about bltlnga snake S
head off and trying to swallow it. The
head stuck III hs throat, and he would
surely have choked to death, he said, II
his mate hadn't come along just then
and pulled 1t out with her claw. The
story tellers predlcament was such u
funny picture to the imagination Of the
listening owls That they responded with
yells OF wild delight.
But the story that fairly upset the
whole party OF nocturnal rolsterers and
made them boot and screech and tiutter
all over the tree for at least five min
N-NN'
voice. He said that he felt like kicking
up some mischief the night before, so he
sailed out to the settlement, settled down
on the window Sill OF IL house III which
there was no llGht ana began to tap On
the panes with his bill. The folks were
asleep, so he ill,ted 10 the opposite side
OF the house and tapped there. Nobody
stirred, and he kept gong from one side
OF the house 10 the other I'LL IL woman
got up, STRUCK hSht ana began to Try
the windows TO see II they were fast,
wv men she came TO ms window, he
peered III at her, ana she started to
scream SO hard that Ill moment her
husband sprahS out of bed, ana tour chll-
dren III their hiShtcIothes caiie running
down stairs ana snoutlhS' Mamma
what the matter Inc woman couldn
tell what tlle matter was although her
husband ana young ones Kept coaxlnS her
TO, but at iehgth she caught her breath
long enough 10 say she haa seen spook
at the window
AT That the man dashed out and be-
gan TO search around the house, and the
OWL sad he flew to the top OF ba! sam
tree, where he sat till the man went
BACK, when he al1Shted ON the window
vile Tor making sucll Il rulnpuS about
nothing, SO he drove the children back
to bed and went to JaWlng her like SIX
ty. She JaWed back, 4nd they had 1t