Withthetwilighttheyrousedthemselvessoftlytothebusinessoflife。Insageandsilentcompanionshipoftwo，theywentflying，noiseless，alongthequietlanesinsearchofameal。Atonetimetheywouldbeatafieldlikeasetterdog，anddropdowninaninstantonamouseunawareofthem。Atanothertime——movingspectralovertheblacksurfaceofthewater——theywouldtrythelakeforachange，andcatchaperchastheyhadcaughtthemouse。Theircatholicdigestionswereequallytolerantofaratoraninsect。Andthereweremoments，proudmoments，intheirlives，whentheywerecleverenoughtosnatchasmallbirdatroostoffhisperch。Onthoseoccasionsthesenseofsuperioritywhichthelargebirdfeelseverywhereoverthesmall，warmedtheircoolblood，andsetthemscreechingcheerfullyinthestillnessofthenight。
So，foryears，theOwlsslepttheirhappysleepbyday，andfoundtheircomfortablemealwhendarknessfell。Theyhadcome，withthecreepers，intopossessionofthesummer-house。Consequently，thecreeperswereapartoftheconstitutionofthesummer-house。
AndconsequentlytheOwlsweretheguardiansoftheConstitution。
Therearesomehumanowlswhoreasonastheydid，andwhoare，inthisrespect——asalsoinrespectofsnatchingsmallerbirdsofftheirroosts——wonderfullylikethem。
Theconstitutionofthesummer-househadlasteduntilthespringoftheyeareighteenhundredandsixty-eight，whentheunhallowedfootstepsofinnovationpassedthatway；andthevenerableprivilegesoftheOwlswereassailed，forthefirsttime，fromtheworldoutside。