Hooty and Mrs. Hooty snapped their bills and hissed fiercely . They drew nearer . Farmer Brown 's boy kept a watchful eye on them . They looked so big and fierce that he was almost tempted to give up and leave them in peace . But he just had to find out if there was anything in that nest , so he kept on . As he drew near it , Mrs. Hooty swooped very near to him , and the snap of her bill made an ugly sound . He held his stick ready to strike and kept on . The nest was simply a great platform of sticks . When Farmer Brown 's boy reached it , he found that he could not get where he could look into it , so he reached over and felt inside . Almost at once his fingers touched something that made him tingle all over . It was an egg , a great big egg ! There was no doubt about it . It was just as hard for him to believe as it had been for Blacky the Crow to believe , when he first saw those eggs . Farmer Brown 's boy 's fingers closed over that egg and took it out of the nest . Mrs. Hooty swooped very close , and Farmer Brown 's boy nearly dropped the egg as he struck at her with his stick . Then Mrs. Hooty and Hooty seemed to lose courage and withdrew to a tree near by , where they snapped their bills and hissed . Then Farmer Brown 's boy looked at the prize in his hand . It was a big , dirty-white egg . His eyes shone . What a splendid prize to add to his collection of birds ' eggs !
It was the XXXXX egg of the Great Horned Owl , the largest of all Owls , that he ever had seen .
Blacky Brown Hooty anything boy courage eye first prize sound