It was the third year after the king’s reception that Owl moved into Birdland. He was a stranger to every one and, moreover, he seemed reserved, seldom joining in any of the social functions. Indeed, he was considered by many to be a wizard, so eccentric was he. Wren had once remarked, Owl always seemed to have something on his mind. Whereupon Brown Thrasher, with his usual sarcasm, replied that he didn’t think that Owl had any mind. Of course, this created a laugh at Owl’s expense, but he took it good-naturedly, for he knew that Thrasher’s opinions were as airy as his flight. Owl’s first great trouble was house hunting. He had been brought up and accustomed to live in a hollow tree, and, if the truth must be told, he was far too clumsy to build such a house for himself. No wonder, then, that he was overcome with gratitude when Flicker offered him the one which he had built the year before. Like all the woodpeckers, Flicker was a good deal of a carpenter and always persisted in building himself a new house each spring, even though it might be but a short flight from his last year’s home. Flicker had taken quite a liking to Owl, who always behaved like a gentleman, but the real reason was because of Thrasher’s attempt to tease him. Flicker and Thrasher were not very good friends. Many years ago Thrasher had insinuated that Flicker wore a black patch of feathers on his breast so that he might claim relationship with Meadow Lark. This, of course, was not true, and Flicker, who, by means of the red mark on the back of his head, could trace his ancestry back to the great Ivory Bill, could well laugh at the accusation. Nevertheless, he had always remembered it, and it was, therefore, with a double pleasure that he let Owl occupy his last year’s house. As for Owl, it mattered little as to the real reason of his getting the house. So pleased was he that he even contemplated holding a reception in his new home. But then, as he thought how plain and old-fashioned it would seem to such a fastidious housekeeper as Oriole, his desire left him.