This is part two of a two-part series.

If you miss part one, please start there.

One day in 1872, an Irish customs officer working in India decided to play hooky from work.

Instead, Officer William Blewett went hunting.

Before long, bang, he bagged an owl. Blueitt was thrilled.

Collectors in England paid big money for birds from India, especially owls, and this one was

lovely. But when Blue had sent the bird to a naturalist, he got an unwelcomed surprise. Blue it thought he had shot a species

called the spotted owlent. They're around 10 inches tall, with gray-brown backs and wings and a

fluffy white undercarriage. They also have yellow eyes and spots on their heads. But the naturalist

told him that this owl was different. Its head lacked

spots, and it had fuller feathers on the neck and legs. It also had a larger bill and massive claws

for crushing prey, with toes as thick as children's fingers. The naturalist congratulated Blewitt.

He had discovered a species new to science.

He proposed using Bluitt's name in the official Latin designation.

The news horrified Blewett.

In writing the species up, the naturalist needed to describe where and when it had been collected.

If Bluit's boss saw that, he would realize that

Blueett had played hooky and fire him. So Bluett lied. He claimed that his brother had shot the

owlet, not him. That way, he kept his job, but also got to keep the family name and the bird's name. A win-win.

The species blew it collected is now called the Forest Owlet. Over the next dozen years, six

more specimens turned up in India, including some from a British officer named James Davidson.

Remember that name. But when they looked into where the forest outlet lived,

...