He too had some white feathers in the tail, though none on the head; his hooked beak was black, and he wore dark leggings almost down to his powerful claws.
These two Eagles, though not exactly friends, are not enemies; for the Bald-headed one ranges over all of North America, especially in open places near the water, while his Golden brother keeps more to the western parts, and loves the loneliness of cold northern mountains.
"We Birds of Prey," said the Eagle, "who bow to no one and even sleep sitting erect--we, whose females are larger than the males for the better protection of our nests, are accused of eating not only our smaller brethren, but also four-footed animals which are of service to man.

I deny that we do this as a tribe, except when we are pressed for food, and Heart of Nature says to us all, 'Take what ye need to eat!' "Now, you are all in honor bound to speak the truth at this hearing, and you shall be heard first, Brothers of the Darkness--you, with strange voices and feathered eye-circles--you, who have three eyelids and whose eggs are whiter even than moonlight.
"Brother Screech Owl, whose day is my night, tell us about yourself--how and where you live." [Illustration: Screech Owl.] There were two Screech Owls perched side by side on one stump.

They were not ten inches long, and had feathery ear-tufts standing up like horns an inch long.

One Owl was mottled gray and black; the other was rusty-red; and the toes of both peeped out of holes in their thin stockings.

The gray one gave a little quavering wail and said: "I am everywhere a well-known Owl; though I say it myself, I am a good, hard-working Citizen, and in this the Wise Men agree.
"My family are also distinguished by two other odd habits.