180 THE SECOND BOOK OF BIRDS 
When Mrs. Bolles wanted to sketch an owl, he 
kept changing his shape all the time, though he 
did not seem to move at all. 
Another man who had a pet owl says that the 
bird would stand before him and throw back his 
breast feathers each side, just as a man throws 
open his coat. 
The owlets come out of the egg dressed in soft, 
fluffy down. In some of the family it is gray, 
in others it is snowy white. They are carefully 
fed and reared by their loving parents. 
A funny story is told by a man who wanted to 
see what was in an owl’s nest. He lifted the 
mother bird out, and to his surprise the whole 
family came out with her. She held on to one 
little one, and each one held on to the next, and 
so he had the whole owl family in a cluster, like 
a bunch of grapes. 
The ScrEEcH Owt is the best known of this 
family. He is found, under slightly different 
forms, all over our country. In Florida he is 
smaller and darker than in the Middle States. In 
California he is larger and grayer, and in the. 
Rocky Mountains somewhat lighter. But he acts 
in about the same way, wherever he lives. 
In the East the screech owl is found in two 
colors. Some have reddish feathers, others have 
