In May, Billy and his friend Bruce leave the town limits and explore the prairies surrounding the town. Rather than collecting gophers as they usually do, the boys search for an owl’s nest so that they can find young owls to keep as pets. They walk from bluff to bluff, searching for nests in the cottonwood trees and noting the different animals in the area. After crows begin to swoop at the boys, Bruce climbs a tree to “snitch” the crow’s eggs, which he carries down in his mouth. He falls, and the eggs break. The boys continue to search for owls’ nests.

After lunch, Bruce sees a bunch of crows in the sky making noise, which signifies that an owl is nearby. They spot a great horned owl being chased by the crows but do not find the owl’s nest. They know that the nest must be near, so they continue their hunt, finding crows’ nests, magpies’ nests, and a hawk’s nest, but no owl’s nest. Hot, the boys decide to cut over to a well on their way home to get a drink, pretending that they are lost in the desert. They pass one final bluff and look up to discover the tail feathers of an owl hanging over the edge.