Confiding nesting owl

In the second edition of M.F. Soper's New Zealand Birds (1976), the author writes more about the little owl than he does about any other introduced species, which I presume means that it was the only introduced species that he didn't dislike. Included in the text about the species is the following:

When first hatched the chicks are covered with a white down. For the first week or ten days the female is very reluctant to leave them and will allow an observer who wishes to find out how brooding is progressing to slip his hand underneath her and lift her off the nest. The owl does not like the treatment and will hiss and clatter her beak, but if one is gentle and unhurried she will not attack or fly away.

It would be interesting if other birders could try this so that whether or not most specimens are that calm could be revealed.