mparatively sociable as long as they are not troubled and annoyed,
are not only able to distinguish their friends from their foes, but
are very apt to stand up vigorously in defence of their rights. Those
little sparrows, which hop about so cunningly in the streets of many
of our cities, understand very well that no one will hurt them, and
that they may pick up crumbs wherever they can find them. But let a
few boys get into the habit of throwing sticks and stones at them, and
the little things will leave that neighborhood as quickly as if the
rents of all their tiny houses had been raised beyond their means.

[Illustration]

Magpies, too, are very companionable in their own way, if they are
well treated; but if a boy should undertake to steal away with one of
their nests, when it was full of young ones, he would run a very great
risk of having his eyes picked out.

There is a feathered friend of ours who keeps himself so secluded, at
least during the day-time, that he is very apt to escape our notice. I
refer to the owl.

It may not be supposed, by some, that the owl is a friend of mankind,
and I am perfectly willing to admit that very often he acts very much
like an enemy, especially when he kills our young chickens and
turkeys. But for all that, he has his good points, and very often
behaves in a commendable manner. If you have a barn or a house that is
overrun with mice, there is nothing that will be more certain to drive
them out than an owl. And he will not be so apt to steal your milk or
kill your canary as many of the cats which you have taken into your
family without a recommendation.

[Illustration]

We once had an owl living in our house. He belonged to my young
brother, who caught him in a trap, I believe. All day long, this
solemn little fellow (for he was a small brown one), would sit on the
back of a chair, or some such convenient place, and if any of us came
near him, he would turn his head and look at us, although he could not
see very well in the day-time; and if we walked behind him, or on
different sides of him, he would always keep his eyes on us, turning
his head around exactly as if it was set on a pivot.

It was astonishing how easily he could turn his head without moving
his body. Some folks told us that if we walked around and around him,
he would turn and turn his head, until he twisted it off, but we never
tried that.

It was really astonishing how soon the mice found out that there