OWL SECRETS 301 



ascent ; but when I was fifteen feet up, silently and hurriedly 

 the owl left the nest and went out of sight to the other side 

 of the grove. 



At last I was up the dizzy height, and before me lay an 

 old squirrels' nest, an aggregation of sticks and leaves, the 

 top of which the new occupants had hollowed out quite 

 deeply. Here in a soft bed of leaves and owl-down were 

 three eggs, — the usual complement of this species, though 

 it is often but two, — white, as are all owls' eggs, nearly 

 spherical, and about the size of eggs of domestic fowl. 

 Though it was "April Fools' Day," the owl had not been 

 able to deceive me and prevent the discovery of her secret. 



These eggs were appropriated for purposes which I con- 

 sidered more important than those of the owl. Two weeks 

 later, to a day, on a bright morning, I was gazing upward 

 under that tree, looking in vain for the stubby tail. But there 

 it was on the last year's nest, in a very slender pine, at about 

 the same elevation. Backing off to see the owl mov^e, while 

 the farmer knocked vigorously at her tree door, at length 

 I observed her very slowly raise her solemn face above the 

 edge of the nest, and, with fixed gaze, try to stare me out 

 of countenance. This time she was even tamer than before. 

 I stopped climbing only when my head was just below the 

 level of the nest. There was the brown barred tail projecting 

 within easy reach. Why not catch the owl ? But the thought 

 of a struggle in the tree-top with the great raptor's beak and 

 claws forbade. 



Probably never again shall I witness at such close quarters 

 the scramble of a large owl from the nest, for this tameness 

 is unique in my experience. First she rose to her feet with 

 a quick start, and almost simultaneously leaped into the air, 

 spreading her wings as she did so. The branches were rather 

 thick, though there was an opening, and the owl in her 



