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A screen roll from Otogi Zoshi (“illustrated short stories”). In this fable an 83-year-old owl in the Kaga region is smitten by the beautiful princess Bullfinch. With the help of a titmouse his love is reciprocated, and the other birds who had longed for her read poems of love. However, one of these birds, a broken-hearted snowy eagle, kills the princess in a jealous rage. The owl becomes a monk and prays to Buddha for the repose of her soul. This scroll was based on a Nara picture book, and lacks the latter half of the story, but is a precious example of the few remaining pieces telling the owl’s tale. In this fabulous illustration, the wit and humor of the period can be seen – for example, a walnut placed before the titmouse plays on the idiom “a titmouse spinning a walnut”, which means to fiddle with something not knowing what to do with it.