io8 The Screech Owl 



Standing in this position it resembled more nearly 

 an old stub on the limb than a bird. 



At last the owl-house was completed and placed 

 in a cherry tree in the garden. Late in the after- 

 noon the owls were put in it — free at last and with a 

 home besides. The next morning both were there; but 

 whether they had been out during the night I could 

 not say. The second morning Billy was gone, and 

 although I looked about I failed to find his hiding- 

 place. In the afternoon I was working in the garden, 

 and an old robin, that had a nest in the next yard, 

 was making a great disturbance. I could see no 

 cat or other cause for this outcry, and the young 

 robins were not large enough to leave the nest. I 

 stood it until my curiosity got the better of me, and 

 then set out to find the cause of all this alarm. By 

 this time the male robin had arrived, and he too was 

 greatly distresssed. A bluebird that chanced to be 

 near had joined in, and then it dawned upon me that 

 it might be the sight of Billy that was causing this 

 uneasiness among the birds. Sure enough, in a snug 

 retreat formed by some branches sat Billy, with his 

 eyelids slightly open, trying to discover what all this 

 fuss was about. I returned him to his home, and 

 for the next two weeks he was to be found there nearly 

 every day; Betty, however, was the more regular of 



