1896
October 27
(No 2)
Concord, Massachusetts.
horizontal branch about eight feet from the main
stem and some eighteen feet above the ground.
He appeared quite indifferent to the movements &
clamor of his persecutors but he kept his eyes fixed 
on me with some show of interest but without
drawing in his feathers or displaying [delete]any[/delete] other
signs of suspicion or alarm. The Chickadees were
the most noisy and aggressive of the little birds
about him but none of them ventured to approach 
him nearer than to within six or eight feet. They
called de-de-de-da incessantly. The Fox Sparrow
clucked loudly. Two Red Squirrels on the opposite side
of the hollow added materially to the racket by
a continuous loud snickering but I doubt if either 
of them really saw the Owl or knew what this 
excitement was all about.
  I left the place without disturbing any of these birds
and went to the cabin for my camera. When I
returned some fifteen minutes later the Squirrels
were still snickering but all the little birds had departed.
The Owl, however, was still perched on the pitch pine
branch, exactly as I left him. After exposing at him
the only two plates I had I threw some pieces of
branches at him. Whenever one of them hit very near
him he would bend forward and examine the
spot with close attention then resume his former
attitude. At length I shook the tree forcibly whence
the Owl at once left his perch and darted off
first sweeping down nearly to the ground then
rising and following a foot path, finally alighting
in a young white fir on a short, dead, lateral branch.