OWL LIFE 



and wet with dew, to seek shelter for the day on a limb close 

 to the bole of some dense tree, where, after making an in- 

 different toilet, she sits with elongated body and close-drawn 

 feathers, looking quite like the weather-worn bark. Thus she 

 escapes the notice of the feathered hordes who might attack 

 her. After a close search here is where we are most likely to 

 find her, with tail close pressed to the limb in the shrinking 

 but vertical attitude common to all owls, faithfully standing 

 guard over the nest. 



If we are fortunate enough to find in the evergreens 

 the different members of an Acadian family in a secluded 

 spot favorable to thought, the mother, with wide-open eyes, 

 will be the picture of wisdom and a fit companion for Minerva 

 or Pallas Athene, while one of the little ones, dozing on a 

 nearby limb, will look like nothing more than a sleepy small 

 boy in his "nighties" ; and the sound he makes will tell you 

 plainly that he prefers the sandman's presence to yours. If 

 you are gentle and sympathetic with him, however, he may 

 reward you by showing his confidence in you by going to 

 sleep in your hand — ^this "little downy owl." 



With feathers fluffed out the owl looks as large and 

 comfortable as other birds, though she is really nothing but 

 feathers and bones. This is why she seems so buoyant in 

 flight, with no suggestion of weight, and why with body con- 

 tracted she moves so silently along, her soft, light feathers 

 never cutting the air and making such sounds as are made 

 by the heavier birds with stiffer feathers. With no flesh on 

 her bones, perhaps "the owl for aU her feathers is a-cold." 



The eye of the owl is set solidly in its socket and is not 

 movable like the eyes of other birds; and for this reason, 

 when looking at anything it is necessary for her to move her 

 whole head from side to side — a habit no doubt for which 



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