The Spotted Owl 
Taken in Ventura County 
like. \\ hen she moved along a limb her every movement suggested a 
parrot, really a striking resemblance.” 
Not satisfied, however, with these distant views, and finding their 
tackle too short to reach 
the nest from above, the 
scientists left a rope 
dangling and travelled 
over night to town for 
more apparatus. Re¬ 
turning, they found ser¬ 
ious changes: ‘‘Picture 
the three grim cliff 
scalers with their five 
hundred feet of rope rid¬ 
ing up and finding the 
owls not on the ledge at 
all, but come to meet 
them! It was really as 
bad as that, for there, in 
an insignificant oak 
across the ravine, sat the 
two youngsters with 
their parent. All three 
were well within the 
reach of any six-year-old 
boy. They were distant 
a hundred yards or so 
from the nest, and the 
hillside rose so steeply on 
that side that they were 
almost level with the 
nest although not over 
fifteen feet from the 
ground. That the young 
could have reached the 
spot unaided seems in¬ 
credible, for although 
the primaries were well 
grown out, they were, 
with that exception, in 
the complete down, and 
were still weak. The 
— 
Photo by Dickey 
"THAT THE YOUNG COULD HAVE REACHED THE SPOT UNAIDED 
SEEMS INCREDIBLE” 
1094 
