6. Paragraphs 11,12

     In the beginning, Owlie had to be forced to eat. That was Mom’s job. But Owlie soon realised that if a hand came towards her it meant food! Her mouth would open automatically and her beak would snap around what was offered. Only, Owlie found it difficult to know when she was being offered food and would try to take a bit out of any hand that came her way. This meant lots of bitten fingers for Payal and her mother.

 

     Reading up more about owls and their habits, Payal discovered that Owlie was a Spotted Owlet. She had the typical grey-brown coat, heavily spotted with white, the pale face, yellow eyes and the white neckband, which looked like a ribbon, Payal decided. Soon, Payal took over the job of looking after Owlie. She saw that the cage was cleaned every day. She filled the water bowl. Once Owlie began to eat by herself, Payal too could feed her. She loved the way Owlie took a piece of raw meat from her hand. During the day, Payal kept the cage covered. Owls are night birds, so they slept during the day. At night, when owls are active, Payal took off the cover. They had decided that they would let Owlie fly away once she had grown bigger. But that meant that she had to learn to fly. To do that, Owlie had to be in a closed room.