Evening star., 1920-03-14

money from you. would say: He 10 q
deep stuSent OF finance and economy.
1 think he took a night course In
banking. currency. foreign exchange
and arbitrage, the course being by
correspondence in invisible ink-he 10
= very safe man and never has any
ideas that were not in my copybook
at school
"Old Owl. you remind me Of some
men! You are the stupidest of the
birds and yet you live well and wear
swell feathers by preying on smaller
and weaker creatures than yourselfi
back to the city this evening. to
write piece about you in The Sun
day Star and expose you"
The owl blinked several times, but
did not even make his we'll known,
Of sDa ss eS 6y
his serious and contemplative man
ner and by his pompous uttorAnce
Of two or three syllables has induced
many men to believe him wise And
this method of obtaining a reputation
for wisdom has not been used by owls
alone.
The Rambler, as well as several
other world famous ornitholeGists.
has taken pleasure in calliAG the
owls blum. 1t can be shown that the
silent and student looking owl has
less sense than the garrulous maSpte
or yellow breasted chat. He cannot
excellence or depravity OF language.
As a plunderer he bears no more re-
lation to the jaybird and the crow
than little casino does to the ace
Of trulnps. right bower or ths soksr.
pArison with the hawk. The apright-
ly, merry goldfnch-wild cousin to
your pet canary-has more intelli.
gence in a minute than q mock OF
owls in ten centuries. For ax-
the English sparrow beats him by
q mile. For industry and good ma
ture, the robin leaves him at the POST.
For courage. determination ana ais
position to night, the mother wren
excels him as a one-eared, battle
seasoned tomcat of the alley does the
poodle of my lady's boudofr. For
even the srack,e. singing like a rusty
hinge. stands far above the owl In
persons called critics. For skin in
aviation. the swallow. bullbat ana
the buzzard do not admit him to their
class. For endurance in the face OF
bliz and icy gale he is no rival OF
the snowbird For cut and brilliancs
ager, bluebird and red-head wood
pecker outclass him. He sees at
night. with no clearer vision than
the nighthawk or the whip -poor-wlil.
The owl has never been admitted 10
the best society among birds, and by
best society among birds" the Rambler
means very good society, though among
at least one species of Gods creature
"best society" has come to mean a 80
ciety that is long on clothes and short
on sense. But be that as it may, the
owl is not on the calling list Of the
best birds. The fabulists Croxall, La
Fontaine. and LEstrange point that
out. 1t is either La Fontaine or LES
TRANCE who tells this story:
young Owl having accidentally seen
himself in a crystal fountain. conceived the
highest opinion Of his persona! perfections:
give me children beautiful as myself, to be
the glory Of the night and the ornament Of
our groves. Happy the female who is des-
tined to spend her life with met Full Of
these self-apprcving thoughts he entreated
the Crow to propose match between him
and the royal daughter Of the Eagle. ''Do
sou imagine" said the Grow, that the noble
Eagle, whose pride 1t is to gaze on the bright
est Of the heavenly luminaries, will consent
to marry his daughter to YOU. who cannot 80
much as open your eyes while it is daylight"
But. the self f-conceited Owl was deaf to all
that his friend urge. who after much
persuasion. was at length prevailed upon to un-
dertake the commission His proposal was
received in the manner that might be ex-
pected; the king Of birds laughed him to
scorn However. being a monarch Of some
hunior, lie ordered him TO acquaint the Owl
that II he would meet him the next morning
at sunrise in the middle of the sky, he would
consent to give him his daughter in marriage.
The presuniptious Owl undertook to perform
the condition. but being dazzled by the sun.
and his head growing giddy, he fell from
his height upon rock. whence, being
pursued by a flock OF birds he was glad at
last to make his escape into the hollow Of an
old oak, where he passed the remainder OF his
days In that Obscurty for which nature de-
signed him.
The most stinging rebuke to the owl,
within the Rambler's recollection, was
administered by the nightingale. You
can read it in Aesop's. Croxalls, La
Fontaine's and l. Estrange's fables COM
piled by ERNEST Griset. 1t happened
that the owl sat one evening half
buried In meditation and half asleep. A
nightingale perching near him, began
her melodious lays He started from
his reverie and with a horrid screech in
terrupted her song. "Begone," cried he,
thou impertinent minstrel, nor distract
with noisy dissonance my sublime con-
temptations; and know, vain songster,
that harmony consists In truth alone,
which is gained by laborious study. and
not In languishing notes. ~ only to
sOothe the ear OF a love-sick maid"
Connected pedant," returned the night
ingale, Whose wisdom lies only In the
feathers that mufife up thy unmeaning
face music is natural and rational en-
tertainment and though not adapted to
the ears OF an owl. has ever been rel-