The Yellowstone journal. [volume] (Miles City, Mont.) 1893-1901, 1893-10-25
STORY TELLING OWLS
FttEIR FUNNY YARNS MADE THE
ADlRONDACkS RING WITH MIRTH.
The Jovial Birds We're So Laughter Pro-
voking That the Side splitting ~ontagion
Spread to Their Human Auditors, and
Even the Looms Howled with Delight.

Spread to Their Human Auditors, and
Even the Looms Howled With Delight.
What amused our party most up in
the Adirondacks," said a Scranton man,
was an entertainment given to us by Q
dock of story telling owls. Our camp
was away back in the wilderness of
Herkimer county, and we had hardly
turned in for the night when a flock Of
owls alighted on a 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 were tickled half to death.
'They reminded us of a lot of drum
mers in a smoking car, and they had
such jolly fun it became contagious.
We all rolled and laughed over the fun
the big eyed birds were having up in the
tree. and before long the side splitting
c~ontagion attacked some looms out on
the lake, which fairly yelled with de-
light whenever the fun loving owls GUT
fawed and sLrieked AID shouted over a
right good yarn tod by one Of their
number.
.'Once in awhile "A 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 N anne the eli
tire flock made the woods ring. Tie
jovial birds had met expressly to swap
experiences OF the night before, ana
they talked SO plainly that we could
easily keep a run of their anecdote. is
we lay on our beds of spruce boughs.
'.One of the owls told about how a biz
rat that he had caught by the back
yanked itself loose and showed fight.
The owl described how he had let tie
rat fatrer itself that it was going to hex
him, how he finally bit his tail off at the
root, aud how the rat then went suueal-
ing and zlgzagginy 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 a tough old jack hare in IL
swamp. He said that the hare had car
ried him along through the rusnes and
over logs for some distance after he had
got his claws i'll its back, and that he at
last brought the hare up standing by keep
ing one claw in its hide and catching hold
of a bush with his other claw. The hare
rolled over and Owe as o as the owl
let go OF the bush, and the owl said that
his feathers pointed in all directions
when he finally got the best of the hare.
Peal after peal Of laughter followed the
narrative.
Another owl told about biting asnake's
head off and trying to swallow it. The
head stuck in his throat, and he would
surely awe choked to death, he said. Il
his mate hadn't come along just then
and pulled it out with her claw. The
story teller's predicanent was such a
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 roisterers and
made them boot and screech and iutter
all yer the tree for at least five min
utes was told by all owl with an alto
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 a house in which
there vas no light and began to tar on
the panes with his bill. The folks were
asleep, SO he fitted to the opposite side
of the house and tapped there. NOBODY
stirred, and he kept going from one side
OF the house to the other till q woman
got up, struck a light and began to try
the windows to see if they were fast.
When she came to his window, be
peered III at her, and she started to
scream SO hard that in a moment her
husband sprang out of bed, and four chill 1
dren in their n~ightclothes came running
down stairs and shouting, Mamma, !
what's the matter? The woman couldn't
tell what the matter was, although her
husband and young ones kept coaxingL her
TO, but at length she caught her breath
long enough to say she had seen q spook
Ut the window.
AT that the man dashed out and be-
gan to search around the house, and the
owl said he few to the top Of a baIsam
tree, where he sat till the man went
back, when ne alighted on the window
nil again. The man Was angry at his
wife for making such a ruinpus about
nothing, SO he drove the children back
70 bed and went to Jawing her like six-
y. She jawed back, and they had il
bot and heavy ill the man got I'd and
her. Thea she threw "a diuper of
water on him ~ tine bed. and IN iump-
ny out at ner ne knocked the lamp off
the stand and pull our the ignt. The
owl said he hss-ned 10 their quarreiing
md fighting III the dark TIL he couiu
land it nc longer, when he flew back to
- woods. His recital filled his listen
~ with merriment, and it was several
minutes before they Gained down for
anecdote.
well, sir, those 5ovial owls continued
tsll stories till 2 O'Clock. whsn we al
bscans 80 sleepy thae We lost I'll interest
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