OWL SECRETS 
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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 o.f 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 jDine, at about 
the same elevation. Backing oft' to see the owl move, 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 
