The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1920-02-05

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ground crowded around the door waiting to
be let out for the day.
As the farmers wife unlocked the door
and the chickens half ran, half flew past her
in their usual morning rush to get in the
open, she beheld surprising sight. There
on the ground inside the coop lay two big
hens and a once proud rooster amid clutter
of loose feathers All three were partly de-
voured. There had been trouble in the
night She looked about her, then she saw
the answer. The instigator was still there.
In the far end of the coop near the roof
two great round eyes were fixed upon her
in a binding stare, two large black pupils
that covered all but narrow band of bril-
liant yellow searched the doorway in pierc-
ing yet blind-like gaze. Two tufted ears
stood out from either side of round brown
feathered head. Below the shining eyes was
a cruel, curved, black beak. AS the farm
wife started in amazement the round eyes
blinked slowly and hollow chopping sound
came from the beak as it opened and shut
suddenly.
The wife slammed the door shut and
going to the house told her husband that
there was an owl in the chicken coop and
that it had already killed three chickens. The
farmer and boy from nearby place fixed
up hoop and net on the end of a long pole.
Then they went to the coop, entered and
closed the door behind them. A quick pass
with the hoop and the owl, struggling and
Kissing and chopping his bill, was fouled in
the fish net. They carried him forth and de-
posted him in wooden box over the top of
which they nailed chicken wire.
The owl must have flown into the coop,
which was some distance from the house, the
evening before. The farmer, shutting the
door later on, had bottled up both chickens
and OWL 1t was like locking up small
boy in the pantry with forty juicy mince pies
after making every effort to keep him away
from them. 1t had been great night for
the owl and he had made the most of his un-
usual opportunity.
l came up from the Jersey coast that
afternoon and saw the prisoner when / stop
ped at the farm. He was a splendid speci
men of the great horned owl, nearly two feet
from tip of tail to end of ears. And he
looked as thick through as he was long as
he crouched in the box with every feather
standing erect in bold defiance Of his captors.
Notwithstanding the villainous record
of his species and the fact that he had been
caught red-handed this time, could not
help but admire him. His beak and talons
were long and cruel, his eyes hard and un'
relenting. He appeared so perfectly efficient,
so we'll adapted to the career which nature
had set for him. He was a fine example of
great, powerful, savage bird of prey. Be
meath the mass of soft brown feathers one
could sense the steel muscles could picture
him drifting swiftly and as silently as
shadow through the woods and over the
fields at night; hunting, striking with the
speed of lightning, sure, never missing.
The wing feathers of duck are stiff
and they make noise while in flight. His
body is heavy, his wings small, and his ire
mendous power of flight lies in the extreme
rapidity of the wing-beat. 1t makes no spe-
cial difference how much noise he makes.
On the other hand, the owls great asset is
stealth. His body is light for its large size,
his feathers soft and fluffy, his wings large,
so he can fly with little effort, silently and
swiftly. He sits motionless throughout the
day in the seclusion of a dense thicket or
hole in an old tree. He is extremely acute
to compensate for the temporary loss OF the
other sense When you come upon him IN
the day he turns his head toward you and
stares straight at you. He does not see you
perhaps, unless very near, but he hears you
and knows exactly where you are. As you
come nearer he spreads his wings with sort
of lazy motion and seems to drift away
into the woods.
As the evening shades lengthen, the
great sun-blinded eyes of the owl come into
their own. The pupils, mere dots in day
time, slowly expand until they cover almost
the entire bright yellow iris. The keen sight