His fierce eyes glare in; his great claws 



drop; one grip, and it's all over. For the 



very sight of him scares the little creatures 7(qokooskoos 



so that there is no life left in them to cry 



out or to run away. 



A nest which I found, a few years ago, 

 shows how well this kind of hunting suc- 

 ceeds. It was in a gloomy evergreen swamp, 

 in a big tree, some eighty feet from the 

 ground. I found it by some pellets of hair 

 and feathers at the foot of the tree ; for the 

 owl devours every part of his game, and after 

 digestion is complete, feathers, bones and 

 hair are disgorged in small balls, like so 

 many sparrow heads. When I looked up, 

 there at the top was a huge mass of sticks, 

 which had been added to year after year till 

 it was nearly three feet across, and half as 

 thick. Kookooskoos was not there. He 

 had heard me coming and slipped away 

 silently. 



Wishing to be sure the nest was occupied 

 before trying the hard climb, I went away 

 and hid in a thicket. Presently a large owl 

 came back and stood by the nest. Soon after 



