appearing to run through
the eyes--tail feathers edged with white, which is seen most plainly
when bird is in flight.

Food--seeds, insects, larval insects, also swallows gravel to aid in
digestion.

Nest made of grasses--built on the ground amid tall grass or
grain--usually quite skilfully hidden and arched or roofed over in a
very ingenious way.

Eggs--four in number--about an inch and an eighth in length, a pure
white, speckled with brown.

Greatest danger from snakes and field-mice.

Meadow lark is not really a lark, but belongs to the blackbird family.

THE OWL

[Illustration: The Owl]

A GOOD-NIGHT

"Haw-haw! Hoo! hoo!"

Phyllis listened again.

"Haw-haw! Hoo! hoo! Hoo! Hoo!"

"Oh, I see you now!" laughed Phyllis.

The owl moved silently as a shadow and perched very near to the little
girl. His great round eyes and his yellow bill gleamed in the
starlight.

"I heard you calling!" said Phyllis. "But I could not at first tell
just where you were. I looked in a dozen trees before I came to you."

"To-who? To-who-whoo-oo-oo?" questioned the owl.

Phyllis laughed again. The owl blinked wisely.

"I am going home to-morrow," Phyllis said. "I shall start to school
next week. Some day, perhaps, I shall be as wise as you, Mr. Owl."

The owl only blinked his great eyes.

[Illustration: "The owl only blinked his great eyes"]

"But I'm sure I can never look so wise," she added, politely.

"Hoo-hoo-hoo-oo!" hooted the owl, blinking sleepily.

"If you will not talk with me I shall say good-night to you at once!"
said Phyllis.

"To-who? To-who-ooo-oo-oo?"

"To-you! To-you-oo-oo-oo!" called Phyllis, running off laughing.

"Papa," she said, a few moments later. "Papa, the hoot-owl would not
talk with me!"

"Wise, wise owl!" said papa, smiling at her over his newspaper.

THE OWL

When cats run home, and light is come
And dew is cold upon the ground,
And the far-off stream is dumb,
And the whirring sail goes round,
And the whirring sail goes round,
Alone and warming his five wits
The white owl in the belfry sits.

--Tennyson.

THE OWL GIRL

Once a very queer little girl lived in a village beside the great Yukon
River.

This little girl did not care to play with other children. Indeed, all
day long she would sit inside the stone hut and sleep.

But as soon as evening came the little girl would awaken. She would
run out t