Even Blacky had to blink , and he knew that poor Hooty would find it harder still . But one thing Blacky was very careful not to even hint of , and that was that Mrs. Hooty was right close at hand . Mrs. Hooty is bigger and even more fierce than Hooty , and Blacky did n't want to frighten any of the more timid of his relatives . What he hoped down deep in his crafty heart was that when they got to teasing and tormenting Hooty and making the great racket which he knew they would , Mrs. Hooty would lose her temper and fly over to join Hooty in trying to drive away the black tormentors . Then Blacky would slip over to the nest which she had left unguarded and steal one and perhaps both of the eggs he knew were there . When they reached the tree where Hooty was , he was blinking his great yellow eyes and had fluffed out all his feathers , which is a way he has when he is angry , to make himself look twice as big as he really is . Of course , he had heard the noisy crew coming , and he knew well enough what to expect . As soon as they saw him , they began to scream as loud as ever they could and to call him all manner of names . The boldest of them would dart at him as if to pull out a mouthful of feathers , but took the greatest care not to get too near . You see , the way Hooty hissed and snapped his great bill was very threatening , and they knew that if once he got hold of one of them with those big cruel claws of his , that would be the end . So they were content to simply scold and scream at him and fly around him , just out of reach , and make him generally uncomfortable , and they were so busy doing this that no one noticed that Blacky was not joining in the fun , and no one paid any attention to the old tumble-down nest of Redtail the Hawk only a few trees distant . So far Blacky 's plans were working out just as he had hoped . CHAPTER VI : Hooty The Owl Does n't Stay Still Now what 's the good of being smart When others do not do their part ? If Blacky the Crow did n't say this to himself , he thought it . He knew that he had made a very cunning plan to get the eggs of Hooty the Owl , a plan so shrewd and cunning that no one else in the Green Forest or on the Green Meadows would have thought of it . There was only one weakness in it , and that was that it depended for success on having Hooty the Owl do as he usually did when tormented by a crowd of noisy Crows , -- stay where he was until they got tired and flew away . Now Blacky sometimes makes a mistake that smart people are very apt to make ; he thinks that because he is so smart , other people are stupid . That is where he proves that smart as he is , he is n't as smart as he thinks he is . He always thought of Hooty the Owl as stupid . That is , he always thought of him that way in daytime .
At night , when he was waked out of a sound sleep by the fierce hunting cry of Hooty , he was n't so sure about XXXXX being stupid , and he always took care to sit perfectly still in the darkness , lest Hooty 's great ears should hear him and Hooty 's great eyes , made for seeing in the dark , should find him .
Crows Forest Hooty Meadows Owl Redtail VI daytime left right