Two quotations :
1. from Love's Labour's Lost, Act 5 Scene 2 :
When all aloud the wind doth blow,
And coughing drowns the parson's saw,
And birds sit brooding in the snow,
And Marian's nose looks red and raw,
When roasted crabs hiss in the bowl,
The nightly sings the staring owl :
'Tu-who ;
Tu-whit, To-who ' - A merry note,
While greasy Joan doth keel the pot.
2. from Wikipedia, today :
The call of the Tawny Owl is the tu-whit tu-whoo immortalised by William Shakespeare. However, it is known today that this call is actually a compound of two calls; the quavering hoo-hoo-hoo by the male and the reply of kew-wick from the female.
How many times have I read or heard this nonsense, usually from so-called experts on owls.
The 'tu-whit' is nothing like the female's 'ke-wick' (far shorter, quieter and less explosive), and comparing the 'to-who' to the male's long-drawn hoot is rubbish (it lasts about two seconds, and the 'who' is on an up-and-down curve that I can't express in letters).
The 'tu-whit to-who' call is not common, I guess I hear it only about once a year, but almost always in mid-winter (as Shakespeare says). I'm not sure but I think it's the male that calls it. It is always prepared by the 'tu-whit' on its own (as Shakespeare says), usually 2-3 times before we get the full thing.
Anyone out there like to back me up, please, before I go in and destroy this rubbish in Wikipedia ?
1. from Love's Labour's Lost, Act 5 Scene 2 :
When all aloud the wind doth blow,
And coughing drowns the parson's saw,
And birds sit brooding in the snow,
And Marian's nose looks red and raw,
When roasted crabs hiss in the bowl,
The nightly sings the staring owl :
'Tu-who ;
Tu-whit, To-who ' - A merry note,
While greasy Joan doth keel the pot.
2. from Wikipedia, today :
The call of the Tawny Owl is the tu-whit tu-whoo immortalised by William Shakespeare. However, it is known today that this call is actually a compound of two calls; the quavering hoo-hoo-hoo by the male and the reply of kew-wick from the female.
How many times have I read or heard this nonsense, usually from so-called experts on owls.
The 'tu-whit' is nothing like the female's 'ke-wick' (far shorter, quieter and less explosive), and comparing the 'to-who' to the male's long-drawn hoot is rubbish (it lasts about two seconds, and the 'who' is on an up-and-down curve that I can't express in letters).
The 'tu-whit to-who' call is not common, I guess I hear it only about once a year, but almost always in mid-winter (as Shakespeare says). I'm not sure but I think it's the male that calls it. It is always prepared by the 'tu-whit' on its own (as Shakespeare says), usually 2-3 times before we get the full thing.
Anyone out there like to back me up, please, before I go in and destroy this rubbish in Wikipedia ?
