Owlish

1914, Theodore Dreiser, The Titan, Chapter 26, http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks/fr100299.txt "You're very right," he said, with owlish smugness, adjusting a waistcoat button that had come loose, and smoothing his cuffs.

He feebly wanted to get out of this, away from clucking nurses and Dr. Crittenham's owlish peering and the horrible scrambled eggs and cold toast.

This owl imitated Trumpkin’s voice rather well, and there were sounds of owlish laughter all round.

[…] their large black eyes scanned the drawings with the owlish look of wisdom peculiar to connoisseurs.