Two Owls at Eton--A True Story by Jonathan Franklin

Author:Jonathan Franklin [Jonathan Franklin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781786063151
Publisher: John Blake Publishing
Published: 2016-10-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER V

The Spreading of the Wings

‘Hark! Peace! It was the owl that shrieked, That fatal bellman which gives the stern’st good night.’

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, MACBETH

THE RECEPTION AT home was very inappropriate for two tired owls. My mother was so glad that they were at last home that she could hardly take her eyes off them for one moment. And so during lunch we put them in the Pyrus japonica just outside the dining-room window. Here, for the first few minutes they remained ‘thin’ but soon were looking at everything with their usual interest, taking special notice of us in the dining room and gazing inquiringly in, especially when anybody laughed.

After lunch we took Dee and Dum to their future roost. This was a small hut with branches for perches, used in the spring for rearing baby chicks, which remained their night-time roost until they were capable of sleeping out of doors.

Throughout the afternoon I popped in to see how they were getting on but they were asleep on one of the perches, or curled up in a corner. They ate very little that night and in the morning were still tired with little appetite. I began to wonder if the journey had been too much for the poor little owls. On the third day Dum began to show signs of recovery and was waiting by the wire door of the hut when I brought their breakfast. Encouraged by Dum’s liveliness I took them both out to see their new surroundings. I put them on the rim of a stone birdbath, but neither felt like a bath and Dum soon flew off to the shelter of a small niche in the wall of the house and sat on a bench. Dee was perhaps too exhausted and decided to remain on the rim of the bath. Already many little birds had noticed them and the air was filled with angry chirrups. The swallows were the more daring and took to dive-bombing Dee, who, having never seen a dive-bombing swallow before, was quite overcome. The first swallow which came close to him, made him duck violently and lose his balance. Almost immediately another came straight for him and Dee again tried to get out of the way. Alas, this time with a hurt screech he bit the dust of the rose bed. Poor Dee! I picked him up and placed him beside Dum.

They spent the morning on the bench, going ‘thin’ at strange objects like cats, dogs and horses. I brought our cat to see them and said firmly, ‘No’. Dum and Dee at first went very ‘thin’ but soon looked as if they would like to make friends. Obviously I disagreed with this prospective friendship and took the eager cat away.

During lunch they again sat on the Pyrus japonica and for their lunch I gave them worms. After they had eaten their fill neither knew what to do with the wriggling surplus. But Dum had a brainwave and with a slow step walked

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