292 The Great Horned Owl 



to believe the birds were nesting there, and he fully 

 determined to make a search at his earliest oppor- 

 tunity. 



This opportunity came sooner than he expected, 

 for the next morning it had turned cold and a light 

 snow had fallen. As there would be no sap to gather, 

 the boy was given a holiday after his usual morning 

 duties were done, and he immediately set out for the 

 swamp, hoping before night to locate the nest. It 

 might seem an easy task to find such a large nest, 

 but the swamp contained several acres, and in many 

 places the evergreens were so thick as almost to ex- 

 clude the sunlight. 



The day was spent in a fruitless search, which 

 perplexed the boy, who had often located the nest 

 of the bobolink and the meadow lark, nests that are 

 not by any means easily found. However, as the 

 search had been systematic and the whole ground 

 had not yet been covered, he still hoped to find it 

 before the eggs had hatched, for he wished to become 

 familiar with the nest and eggs, as well as with the 

 young and old birds. 



The second day's search ended about noon in 

 rather an interesting manner. The boy stopped for 

 lunch under a hemlock that he knew well, for the 

 spring before a pair of crows had had a nest in 



