The Spotted Owl 



indifference. The all-important business of an Owl's daytime hours 

 is slumber; and it was politely assumed that no gentleman would wish 

 to do anything which would seriously interfere with that pleasant occu- 

 pation. Will you look at the babies? Oh ! very well ; but only let us sleep. 



Safely ensconced in 

 a neighboring fir tree 

 Dickey makes the fol- 

 lowing observations on 

 the morning toilet of the 

 mistress: "Contorting 

 herself into every con- 

 ceivable position, she 

 shook her feathers into 

 place and carefully 

 preened away every 

 frayed feather tip. 

 There was something 

 ludicrous in her every 

 action. Even in the 

 midst of her toilet, there 

 were sudden periods 

 when Morpheus seemed 

 to overpower her, and 

 she would doze off, only 

 to awake with a start a 

 few minutes later and 

 continue the perform- 

 ance. Her movements 

 were much more gentle 

 than those of the Horned 

 Owls. The lack of their 

 ear tufts and yellow 

 irides also gave her a far 

 more agreeable expres- 

 sion, although I 

 must confess that 

 certain startled ex- 

 pressions, — when 

 one did succeed in 

 startling her, — seemed 

 unpleasantly lynx- 



Taken in Ventura County Photo by Donald R. Dickey 



LIKE SOME PATRIARCHAL GNOME 



