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 



