170 WESTERN SERIES OF READERS. 



peeping from their doorways in the early morn- 

 ing, backing down out of the light as soon as the 

 sunshine strikes them. 



From a distance you could n't tell if it be a 

 prairie-dog or ground-squirrel or burrowing owl 

 that is sitting upright on a little mound of earth. 

 And when a prairie-dog barks and the how-do- 

 you-do owl sings in the same neighborhood, you 

 could n't tell which was which on short notice. 

 When you get close enough to see the stanch long 

 legs of the owl, you will recognize him. And 

 there are his eyes, big and round, staring at noth- 

 ing, as only the eyes of any owl, or of a cat, can 

 stare. 



J^ No use for trees has this queer little bird, which 

 seems, in its habits, so like a rodent. It always 

 prefers the open country, with the foxes, and 

 squirrels, and badgers, and rattlesnakes. Some- 

 times they may be seen in big towns or settle- 

 pients, and again with just a neighbor or two, as 

 if one or two individuals had taken up a quarter- 

 Section of government land. You may anticipate 

 great fun in digging out a ground-owl, as you did 

 in the case of the kingfisher and the woodpecker, 

 but the chances are you will give it up before you 

 'have finished. Should you conclude to go on, you 

 would n't be sure of just how many white eggs 



