Talk:A Wise Old Owl

Is this a nursery rhyme?
I can't find this in standard nursery rhyme collections. The oldest reference I can locate is a 1909 Indian Rights report (http://books.google.com/books?id=6vMZAAAAMAAJ&pg=RA3-PA139) in which it appears as
 * A wise old owl lived in an oak;
 * The more he lived, the less he spoke;
 * The less he spoke, the more he heard.
 * Now wasn't he a wise old bird?

Books.google.com also turns up references in 1918 (Life in a Tank p. 17) and 1921 (Correspondence Education p. 73.) There is considerable variation in the last line: "Why can't we all be like that bird?" or "Soldiers should imitate that old bird." Torkmusik 09:04, 21 October 2007 (UTC)

I once heard it,

"A wise old owl lived in an oak, the more he saw the less he spoke, the less he spoke the more he heard, now, wasn't he a wise old bird?"

My grandmother said her mother had it on a bookmark. I'll do some researching to try and find some info on it to see if we can add thi version. - Snowstripe the Fierce (talk) 01:03, 24 October 2015 (UTC)