The Feud of the Crows and the Owl 5 



saw the mounted Owl in the tree below. Caution was at once abandoned and, 

 uttering the battle-cry of his kind, he, with his fellows, advanced to the attack. A 

 dozen or more of the birds took up positions in or near the tree in which the Owl 

 sat so"calmly, and screamed their notes of defiance almost in his unresponsive 



WAITING FOR THE CROWS 



face. But in spite of the fact that the dummy bird showed no signs of resentment 

 or of attempt at defence, there appeared now to be considerable hesitation on the 

 part of the Crows as to which one should actually strike the first blow. So far as 

 voice alone was concerned, each one seemed to do his best to call louder than 

 his fellow, and one could readily imagine that each bird was urging his neighbor 

 to open the campaign. 



This continued for some time until finally one of the Crows mustered sufti- 

 cient courage actually to strike the Owl, and it was exceedingly interesting to 



