I once found a young bird tumbling about on the ground. He was trying to fly, but was not able to go much more than a foot at a time. He was giving strange calls, which were answered from the woods beside the road by a low tapping sound. I thought of course the little one was a woodpecker and his mother was doing the knocking. It was so dark I could not see him well. After some trouble I caught him and was going to take a good look at him to see who he was before I let him go. As I grasped him he gave a shriek, and out from the thick trees popped a cuckoo. She alighted on a low branch outside and gave such a cry of distress that I knew at once it was her baby I held in my hand.
I suppose the poor mother thought I wanted to carry the youngster off. I couldn't bear to have a bird think that for a minute; so I opened my hands and away he went, half flying, half scrambling up the road, while the mother slipped back into the woods. In a moment she began again her hollow-sounding calls, which I had thought were woodpecker tappings.
FOOTNOTE:
[25] See [Appendix, 24].
XXXII
THE OWL FAMILY
(Bubonidæ)[26]
Owls differ from all other birds in having eyes that look forward like ours. They have also a broad face, which is made to look even wider by the feathers which stand out around the eyes.