OWL SECRETS 
309 
TWO OF THE YOUNG SCREECH OWLS IN FIRST PLUMAGE 
On the twenty-seventh of the same month I was in a swampy 
tract of large timber, in which were many hollows. It was im¬ 
possible to climb to most of them, but a Saw-whet Owl had been 
“ whetting ” nightly in these woods, and I was on the lookout. 
Finally I saw a rather large round hole in an oak, twenty feet 
up, that looked so especially inviting that I climbed and looked 
in. There was no Saw-whet, but on the bottom, less than a foot 
from the entrance, sat a Screech Owl, in the gray phase of plum¬ 
age. She made not the slightest motion or resistance as I drew 
her out, and examined her five eggs. All the time she feigned 
death, and, when placed back in the nest, she went on with 
her task as if nothing had happened. 
Though I did not at this time see anything of the Saw- 
whet, I was still exulting over a discovery made shortly 
