THE MOBBERS Mobbing of cats and owls is a pastime
with some birds, particularly blackbirds and sparrows, although stragglers of other kinds join in. The language that announces the presence of a victim is well understood, for 1 have seen blackbirds hurrying to join sparrows and companies of sparrows hurrying to make a mob with a pair of blackbirds. The other day I -saw this happening with a little owl. So far as I could see, the owl had been at roost and had been discovered by the black- birds. Reinforcements arrived, and the noise steadily increased. The little owl sat there un- perturbed, reminding me of an old campaigner who has been faced with hecklers before. Finally the blackbirds who had started it all gave up. The sparrows sat around for a while and then lost their last vestige of spite and broke off. The little owl didn't even- blink. Perhaps he really wondered what it had all been about. He may actually have dozed through it all, but I had a feeling that he was filled with contempt at their hysterical out- burst.
Previous page
