`` They can not see by day ; and if they get out into the light , they go flapping round half blind , and the other birds chase and peck at them , as if they were making fun . The horned owl is very big , ` most as big as the eagle . It eats rabbits , rats , snakes , and birds ; and lives in rocks and old tumble-down houses . They have a good many cries , and scream like a person being choked , and say , ` Waugh O ! waugh O ! ' and it scares people at night in the woods . The white owl lives by the sea , and in cold places , and looks something like a hawk . There is a kind of owl that makes holes to live in like moles . It is called the burrowing owl , and is very small . The barn-owl is the commonest kind ; and I have watched one sitting in a hole in a tree , looking like a little gray cat , with one eye shut and the other open . He comes out at dusk , and sits round waiting for the bats . I caught one , and here he is . '' With that Nat suddenly produced from inside his jacket a little downy bird , who blinked and ruffled his feathers , looking very plump and sleepy and scared . `` Do n't touch him ! He is going to show off , '' said Nat , displaying his new pet with great pride . First he put a cocked hat on the bird 's head , and the boys laughed at the funny effect ; then he added a pair of paper spectacles , and that gave the owl such a wise look that they shouted with merriment . The performance closed with making the bird angry , and seeing him cling to a handkerchief upside down , pecking and `` clucking , '' as Rob called it . He was allowed to fly after that , and settled himself on the bunch of pine-cones over the door , where he sat staring down at the company with an air of sleepy dignity that amused them very much . `` Have you anything for us , George ? '' asked Mr. Bhaer , when the room was still again .
`` Well , I read and learned ever so much about XXXXX , but I declare I 've forgotten every bit of it , except that they dig holes to live in , that you catch them by pouring water down , and that they ca n't possibly live without eating very often ; '' and Stuffy sat down , wishing he had not been too lazy to write out his valuable observations , for a general smile went round when he mentioned the last of the three facts which lingered in his memory .
Bhaer First George Nat Rob barn-owl moles night pine-cones waugh