SOLOMON OWL

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 846, 14 December 1929, Page 35

SOLOMON OWL

With Many Mouths to Feed

Solomon Owl was a wise old bird. He was as large as a big pussy-cat, but he had only two feet, and such claws. His feathers were grey on his back and white on his chest. His face was like a funny old man’s face, very flat, but with a strong hooked beak like a monster nose. His eyes were big and round, and they were at the bottom of two deep saucer-holes in his face, so that he looked as if he wore spectacles. These eyes were very close together, so that Solomon could only look in front of him, not at the sides, too, and round the corner, as you can. But to make up for this Solomon had a neck. Oh, such a neck! All birds can move their necks very sharply, but Solomon'3 neck could whisk about like lightning, and it could twist his face right round to his back. It was of no use to creep up behind him. He would see you for certain. No, not quite for certain! I will tell you why. Solomon’s big eyes were useless in the day-time. They just blinked and blinked. They lllled with water, too, and hurt him, so he did a wise thing. He kept in a shady place all day, and only really opened his eyes when the sun had set. Solomon Owl and his wife lived in the roof of an old barn. They had no nest except an untidy heap of old bones and mouse-skins. But in the middle of the heap there were three balls of white fluff, all silky and soft. If you went close you might see two beady eyes and a wee hooked beak on each ball. Then you would know that these pretty things were owlets. The owlets did nothing but squeak for food. “Tu-whit! Tu-whit! Tu-whit!" they cried. "We want food! We want food!" "Tu-whoo! Tu-whoo! Be quiet do." said Solomon. “You know I cannot catcfi food in the daylight.' Wait till it is dark. Your daddy knows how to hunt in the dark." "Tu-whoo! Of course he does," said the mother Owl. “Keep quiet. The sun is going down. Watch your daddy when the sky turns grey. Listen! The birds in the hedges are twittering as they cuddle into their nests." "Here comes the farmer to lock the barn door,” said Solomon Owl. "We shall soon be having a meal now. Sh! Keep quiet!" Solomon Owl kept as still as a cat that is watching a mouse-hole. He scarcely breathed, but his head was stretched forward and his eyes were fixed upon a space between two sacks of corn. Some little creatures were going pitter-patter in the darkest shadow. Little teeth went ?iibble-nibble. Little claws went scratch-scratch. Little mice and little rats scampered about on the sacks of corn, biting holes and spilling the grain, and eating some and spoiling more. Oh, such wasteful little people! Solomon Owl sat in his corner and waited, and presently a little grey rat

came running that way. Swoop! In a moment Sr.lomon wa> from his perch. He killed the littje rat with one blow from his beak, an l the next moment the little owlei were feasting. As for the other rata, they aimpl; vanished. Every single one was gone in two seconds. Anil the one that was being eaten van gone in two sec onds as well. “Tu-whit! Tu-whit! Tu-whit! We want some food!” squeaked the owlets. “1 have just given you some.*' said Solomon. "We want some more.” “All right! Tu-whoo! I’ll go hunt - ing,” said Solomon. He climbed through a hole under the roof and flew into an elm, making scarcely any sound and looking like i moving smudge of greyness. A nightingale was singing in the wood. Bai« were flying to and fro beneath the trees. Mice and rats were scurrying on the edge of the moonlight. A mole was stirring under the hedge. Solomon could have caught any of these creatures, but he was special] v hungry tonight. He wanted large. So he swooped across the tree tops until he came to the edge of a cabbage field. Twenty rabbits wer** there., having a fine free, meal. Presently a mother-rabbjt appeared “Hop, hop, hop,” she went among the cabbages, and her baby rabbits hopped behind her. “Follow me.” she seemed to say. and they seemed to understand. “Don't go frisking too far away. When I stop to eat, you can do the same. When 1 scoot, you’d better scoot too. Watcu the white piece under my tail. That will always show’ you the way home.’ But one wee rabbit thought it would be clever to do something else, so he hopped the other way. Swoop! Down came Solomon Owl! Down came his beak! In another moment he was flying homeward, laden with sup per. The owlets made short work of that rabbit. They didn’t bother to cook it, you know. When the rabbit was eaten the owlet* began to squeak again. “Tu-whit! We want food!” Ail through the long night Solomon Owl was hunting. He caught several rats, and several voles, and goodness knows what else, and as fast as he caught something those greedy owlets* ate it. Shall we watch the owls feasting? It will not be easy to see them, because they feed in the dark. Perhaps this is lucky, for their manners are dreadful. They simply grab with claws and beak, and swallow their supper whole—skin, fur, bones and all. If you ate your dinner that way you would choke. But Solomon Owl did not choke, neither did his owlets or his wife. You would soon get a pain if you swallowed bones and skin and gristle and fur. as owls do. But Solomon and his family get no pain, for a very wonderful reason. This is the reason. Each owl has a marvellous stomach that does two kinds of work. First it separates the good part of the meal from the useless part. Jt rolls the bones and fur into a ball and keeps the ball in a corner out of the way. Then it does the usual work of a stomach, which is to digest the food. When this Is done, the stomach takes the ball and casts it up into the bird s beak again, as much as to say, “This isn’t food. Fancy swallowing this kind of thing! I don’t want it.” “But I do want it,” says the mother owl, and she takes the castings and spreads them about to sleep on. I should not enjoy that kind of bed. but Solomon Owl thinks it is just right. He is always tired after his hunting, and as the sun rises he huddles into his corner and goes to sleep. You would never guess there were five feathered creatures cuddled in the shadows. But the farmer knows that they are there and he lets them stay with a welcome. He would rather have Solomon Owl than # a host of meddlesome rats.