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Locusts and Wild Honey by John Burroughs
page 42 of 204 (20%)
An observer of the birds is attracted by any unusual sound or commotion
among them. In May or June, when other birds are most vocal, the jay is
a silent bird; he goes sneaking about the orchards and the groves as
silent as a pickpocket; he is robbing birds'-nests, and he is very
anxious that nothing should be said about it, but in the fall none so
quick and loud to cry "Thief, thief !" as he. One December morning a
troop of jays discovered a little screech owl secreted in the hollow
trunk of an old apple-tree near my house. How they found the owl out is
a mystery, since it never ventures forth in the light of day; but they
did, and proclaimed the fact with great emphasis. I suspect the
bluebirds first told them, for these birds are constantly peeping into
holes and crannies both spring and fall. Some unsuspecting bird had
probably entered the cavity prospecting for a place for next year's
nest, or else looking out a likely place to pass a cold night, and then
had rushed out with important news. A boy who should unwittingly
venture into a bear's den when Bruin was at home could not be more
astonished and alarmed than a bluebird would be on finding itself in a
cavity of a decayed tree with an owl. At any rate, the bluebirds joined
the jays in calling the attention of all whom it might concern to the
fact that a culprit of some sort was hiding from the light of day in
the old apple-tree. I heard the notes of warning and alarm and
approached to within eyeshot. The bluebirds were cautious and hovered
about uttering their peculiar twittering calls; but the jays were
bolder and took turns looking in at the cavity, and deriding the poor,
shrinking owl. A jay would alight in the entrance of the hole, and
flirt and peer and attitudinize, and then fly away crying "Thief,
thief, thief!" at the top of his voice.

I climbed up and peered into the opening, and could just descry the owl
clinging to the inside of the tree. I reached in and took him out,
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