Among the Forest People Read online

  WHY MR GREAT HORNED OWL HATCHED THE EGGS

  If the Rattlesnake is the king of the forest in the daytime, the GreatHorned Owl is the king at night. Indeed, he is much the more powerful ofthe two, for he is king of air and earth alike and can go wherever hewishes, while the snake can only rule over those who live near theground or who are so careless as to come to him there.

  There was but one pair of Great Horned Owls in the forest, and theylived in the deepest shade, having their great clumsy nest in the hollowof a tall tree. You might have walked past it a hundred times and neverhave guessed that any Owls lived there, if you did not notice the roundpellets of bone and hair on the grass. They are such hungry fellows thatthey swallow their food with the bones in it. Then their tough littlestomachs go to work, rolling all the pieces of bone and hair into ballsand sending them back to be cast out of the Owls' mouths to the ground.

  The Great Horned Owl was a very large bird. His whole body was coveredwith brown, dull yellow, and white feathers. Even his feet and legs werecovered, and all that you could see besides were his black claws and hisblack hooked bill. Yes, at night you could see his eyes, too, and theywere wonderful great eyes that could see in the dark, but they wereshut in the daytime when he was resting. His wife, who was the queen ofthe forest at night, looked exactly like him, only she was larger thanhe. And that is the way among Owls,--the wife is always larger than herhusband.

  Every night when the sun had gone down, the Great Horned Owl and hiswife would come out of their hollow tree and sit blinking on a branchnear by, waiting until it got dark enough for them to see quite plainly.As the light faded, the little black spots in their eyes would growbigger and bigger, and then off they would go on their great soft,noiseless wings, hunting in the grass and among the branches for thesupper which they called breakfast.

  Mrs. Owl could not be gone very long at a time, for there were two largeround white eggs in the nest which must not get cold. Her husband was onthe wing most of the night, and he often flew home with some tendermorsel for her. He was really a kind-hearted fellow, although you couldnever have made the small birds think so. Sometimes his wife would sighand tell how tired she was of sitting still, and how glad she would bewhen the eggs were hatched and she could go more with him. When shebegan to speak of that, the Great Horned Owl would get ready for anotherflight and go off saying: "It is _too_ bad. I am _so_ sorry for you. Butthen, one would never have young Owlets if one didn't stick to thenest." He was always proud of his children, and he thought himself avery good husband. Perhaps he was; still he had never taken his place onthe nest while his wife went hunting.

  One night, after they had both been flying through forest and overfield, he came back to the hollow tree to rest. He expected to find Mrs.Owl, for she had started home before he did. She was not there and hegrew quite impatient. "I should like to know what keeps her so long," hesaid, fretfully. After a while he looked into the nest and saw the twobig white eggs. "It is a shame," he said. "Our beautiful eggs will bechilled, and it will be all her fault if we have no Owlets this summer."

  You see, even then he did not seem to think that he could do anything tokeep them warm. But the next time he looked in, he put one featheredfoot on the round eggs and was surprised to find how cool they were.

  It fairly made his head feathers stand on end to think of it, and he wasso frightened that he forgot to be cross, and stepped right in andcovered them with his own breast. What if they had already been left toolong, and the Owlets within would never hatch? Would Mrs. Owl everforgive him for being so stupid? He began to wonder if any of the otherfellows would see him. He thought it so absurd for the king of theforest to be hatching out a couple of eggs, instead of swooping aroundin the dark and frightening the smaller birds.

  The night seemed so long, too. It had always been short enough before,and he had often disliked to have daylight come, for then he had to goto bed. He was very much upset, and it is no wonder that when he heard adoleful wail from a neighboring tree, and knew that his cousin, theScreech Owl, was near, he raised his head and called loudly,"Hoo-hoo-oooo! Waugh-hoo!"

  The Screech Owl heard him and flew at once to a branch beside the nesthollow. He was a jolly little fellow in spite of his doleful call, andbefore he could talk at all he had to bend his body, look behind him,nod his head, and shake himself, as Screech Owls always do when theyalight. Then he looked into the tree and saw his big cousin, the GreatHorned Owl, the night king of the forest, sitting on the eggs andlooking very, very grumpy. How he did laugh! "What is the matter?" saidhe. "Didn't you like your wife's way of brooding over the eggs? Or didshe get tired of staying at home and make you help tend the nest?"

  "Matter enough," grumbled the Great Horned Owl. "We went huntingtogether at twilight and she hasn't come home yet. I didn't get into thenest until I had to, but it was growing very cold and I wouldn't misshaving our eggs hatch for anything. Ugh-whoo! How my legs do ache!"

  "Well," said his cousin, "you are having a hard time. Are you hungry?"

  The Great Horned Owl said that he was, so the Screech Owl went huntingand brought him food. "I will look in every night," he said, "and bringyou a lunch. I'm afraid something has happened to your wife and thatshe will not be back."

  As he flew away he called out, "It is _too_ bad. I am _very_ sorry foryou. But then, I suppose you would never have the Owlets if you didn'tstick to the nest."

  This last remark made the Great Horned Owl quite angry. "Much he knowsabout it," he said. "I guess if he had ever tried it he would be alittle more sorry for me." And then he began to think, "Who have I heardsay those very words before? Who? Who? Who?"

  All at once the Great Horned Owl remembered how many times he had saidjust that to his patient wife, and he began to feel very uncomfortable.His ears tingled and he felt a queer hot feeling under his facefeathers. Perhaps he hadn't been acting very well after all! He knewthat even when he told her he was sorry, he had been thinking she madea great fuss. Well, if she would only come back now, that should all bechanged, and he shifted his weight and wriggled around into a morecomfortable position.

  Now, if this were just a story, one could say that Mrs. Owl came backand that they were all happy together; but the truth is she never didcome, and nobody ever knew what became of her. So her husband, the nightking of the forest, had to keep the eggs warm and rear his own Owlets.You can imagine how glad he was on the night when he first heard themtapping on the inside of their shells, for then he knew that he wouldsoon be free to hunt.

  A finer pair of children were never hatched, and their father thoughtthem far ahead of all his other broods. "If only Mrs. Owl were here tosee them, how lovely it would be!" he said. Yet if she had been therehe would never have had the pleasure of hearing their first faintcheeps, and of covering them with his soft breast feathers as he dideach day. He forgot now all the weary time when he sat with aching legs,wishing that his cousin would happen along with something to eat. Forthat is always the way,--when we work for those we love, the wearinessis soon forgotten and only happiness remains.

  It is said that the Screech Owl was more thoughtful of his wife afterhis cousin had to hatch the eggs, and it is too bad that some of theother forest people could not have learned the same lesson; but theGreat Horned Owl never told, and the Screech Owl kept his secret, and tothis day there are many people in the forest who know nothing whateverabout it.