Three strokes ! Blacky bit his tongue to keep from giving a sharp caw of disappointment and surprise . There were no eggs to be seen . No , Sir , there was n't a sign of eggs in that old nest . There was n't because -- why , do you think ? There was n't because Blacky looked straight down on a great mass of feathers which quite covered them from sight , and he did n't have to look twice to know that that great mass of feathers was really a great bird , the bird to whom those eggs belonged . Blacky did n't turn to come back as he had planned . He kept right on , just as if he had n't seen anything , and as he flew he shivered a little . He shivered at the thought of what might have happened to him if he had tried to steal those eggs the day before and had been caught doing it . `` I 'm thankful I knew enough to leave them alone , '' said he . `` Funny I never once guessed whose eggs they are . I might have known that no one but Hooty the Horned Owl would think of nesting at this time of year . And that was Mrs. Hooty I saw on the nest just now . My , but she 's big ! She 's bigger than Hooty himself ! Yes , Sir , it 's a lucky thing I did n't try to get those eggs yesterday . Probably both Hooty and Mrs. Hooty were sitting close by , only they were sitting so still that I thought they were parts of the tree they were in . Blacky , Blacky , the sooner you forget those eggs the better . '' Some things are best forgotten As soon as they are learned . Who never plays with fire Will surely not get burned .
CHAPTER IV : The Cunning Of Blacky Now when XXXXX the Crow discovered that the eggs in the old tumble-down nest of Redtail the Hawk in a lonesome corner of the Green Forest belonged to Hooty the Owl , he straightway made the best of resolutions ; he would simply forget all about those eggs .
Blacky Hooty Owl caw eggs fire right strokes tree year