<P> This version was first published in Punch, April 10, 1875, and ran as follows: </P> <P> There was an owl liv'd in an oak The more he heard, the less he spoke The less he spoke, the more he heard . </P> <P> One version was published upon bookmarks during the mid-1930s, and goes as follows: </P> <P> 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? </P>

Where did the expression wise old owl come from