The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-06-02
THB OWL THAT PLAYED GHOST
SCARE FOR TIE CREW or A LUM.
BER CAMP IN CANADA.
DF. LOng Tells About the Mistakes Of
KOOkOOskOos, the Big Brown owl
which Sometimes Get II Into Trouble
and Sometimes Bother Human Beings.

k0OkOOsk00G, the Big Brown Owl
which Sometimes Get IL Into TrOUbI
and BOmetImes Bother Human Beings
cepVneAi, 1907, ov W. J, Lon0.
Kookooskoos Is the big brown owl Whel
you open the natural history books you
find that he is called Bubo ~virRinianus
great horned owl. boot owl. cat owl. anc
many other mch names but when you
Only book In the open book Of nature, wher
the wilderness grows dark and mysterious
and your canoe Is drawn up and your tent
peGs driven deep for the storm that Il
coming, then his Indian name seems best
Koo-koo-skoos. koo-koo-skoos. Kooooo,
kooooo. you hear him calling TO you, from
the heart OF the dark cedar swamp
The Southern negroes interpret his call
somewhat differently. When he wakes up
in the twilight. they tell you his irstthought
is what he shall eat for his supper Chicken
or a goose? Chicken err a goose?" he says
TO himself, scratching his head. Then he
makes up his mind. Chicken er a goose?
GooKe, goosel" he says, and flies of to
get il.
Rookooskoos is always catching the
wrong raj. The reason is that he is a great
hunter, and thinks every furry thing which
moves must be game. So he is like the fool
sportsman who shoots at a sound or a
motion in the bushes before finding out
what makes 1t.
Sometimes the rat he is hunting turnsb but
to be a skunk or a weasel; sometimes your
net cat; and once in a lifetime IL is your own
fur cap. or even you head, and then you
feel theweightand the edgeof Kookooskoos's
claws. But he never learns wisdom by
mistakes. for in spite of his solemn appear
ance he ia excitable as a Frenchman, and
30 whenever anything stirs in the bushes
and a bit of fur appears he cries out to
himself: "A rat, Kookoo! A rabbit" and
swoops on the instant.
One evening in the twilight, as ! came
home from hunting in the big woods, heard
the sound Of deer feeding just ahead. I
stole forward to the edge Of a thicket and
stood motionless, looking and listening
intently.
My cap was in my pocket; only my head
appeared above the low frs that sheltered
me. Suddenly, without noise or warning,
| received a sharp blow on the head from
behind. / turned quickly, surprised and
startled. for l thought myself utterly alone
in the woods; and ! was. Not a living thing
was there. Not a sound. not a motion
broke the twilight stiffness.
Something triokled on my neck and /
raised my hand-to find my hair already
wet with blood. More startled than ever
searched through the thicket, looking,
listening everywhere for sight or sound Of
my enemy.
Still no creature bigger than a wood
mouse; no movement save that Of nodding
fir tips; no sound but the humping Of my
own heart, and far behind me a sudden
rush and bump as the frightened deer
broke away. Then perfect stiffness, as il
nothing had ever lived In the thickets.
I was only a boy, and | vent home that
night more puzzled and more frightened
than ! have ever been, before or since, In
the woods. / ran into the doctors office
my way. He found three cuts in my
scalp, and below them two shorter ones.
where pointed things seemed 10 have been
driven through to the bone.
He looked at me queerly when | told my
story. OF course he did not believe me
and l made no effort to persuade him.
Indeed l scarcely believed myself. But
for the blood which stained my handker-
chief and the %throbbing pain in my head
y bllOulo IuNo uOubbtu tiiO Atoil'y vi tlo
whole experience.
That night l started suddenly out Of
sleep and said. before | was half awake:
1T was an owl that hit you on the head.
OF course it was an OWL" Though why
| should have found this out in my sleep
10 more than l can tell.
Then l remembered that, years before,
older boy had q big owl which he had
from a nest and which he kept loose
a dark garnet over the shed. None Of
s:tounger boys dared go up to the garnet,
Tor the owl was always hungry and the
a boys head appeared through the
the owl said Hooooi and swooped
Tor it. So we used to get acquainted with
the big pet by pushing in a dead rat, or a
or chicken, on the end Of a stick,
climbing in ourselves afterward.
As l write, the whole picture comes back
10 me again vividly-the dark, oobwebby
DID garnet, pierced here and there by a
pencil Of light in which the notes we're
the fierce bird down on the floor
10 the darkest corner, horns up, eyes gleam-
feathers all a-bristle. till he looked big
ls a bushel basket standing on his game
With one foot and tearing it ~savagely TO
pieces with the other, swapping his beak
ind gobbline up feathers, bones and all, !
n great hungry mouthfuls; and halfway
nto the souttle two or three small boys,
in eager curiosity, but clinging TO
me another's coats feanully, ready TO
umble down the ladder with a yell at the
iFst hostile demonstration
The next afternoon / was back in the
zig woods to investigate, Fifty feet be-
bind the thicket where / had been struck
vas a tall stub overlooking a little clear
ng, That's his watch tower l thought.
Willie l was Watching the deer he was
Up there watching my head and when it
moved he s%wooped.'
i had no intention OF giving him another
iignt at the same game, but hid my fur
,ap in the clearing, tied a long string 10 it,
vent back into the thioket with the other
md Of the string and sat down to walt.
low w~hooo-hoo-hool came from across
valley to tell me / was not the only
in the woods.
The twilight was fading into darkness
yhen | noticed suddenly that the top Of the
Id stub looked peculiar; but 1t was some
ime before ] made out a big owl sitting up