Page 55 - Animals of the Sakhalin Region in myths and legends

In the old days, birds did not have nests. Each bird laid eggs wherever she
liked. Therefore, no one could take care of their scattered eggs everywhere.
The Forest Father at that time was full of troubles: it was necessary to
ask the sun to help the chicks to hatch, it was necessary to punish the forest
animals so that they did not offend them, it was necessary to look after the
frost, which even in late spring climbed into the forest at night, threatening

his feathered pets. All this confusion tired the Forest Father: he had many
wards even without chicks. Finally, he summoned all the birds and gave
each a strict order to look for a convenient place for incubation and build
a nest for himself, whoever knows how.
The birds first grumbled, of course, made some noise, and then agreed
and began to arrange their lives. A hawk made a nest for himself on the top

of a tall spruce, Lark made a house in a dry and clean field, Slav covered her
room with horsehair, Woodpecker carved a white horned tree for himself
from aspen planks, Tit gouged out a hollow in a soft stump. One considered
a noisy forest as the best place for a nest, another — a swamp, the third — a
wide valley.
In the midst of the work, the Forest Father went to check how his order
was being carried out. And I was very pleased with the hard work and
diligence of the birds. Some he chided, others praised, but the skill of the

Swallow and Wren could not wonder.
When the Forest Father wanted to leave, the Owl suddenly came up to
him and began to cry and complain that he, poor thing, had nowhere to
build nests: other, they say, the birds shamelessly snatched all suitable
places from under his nose.
Forest Father shook his head in accusation.

— Oh, and you careless little peasant! — he scolded him and shook his
finger at him. — I remember and know you, I noticed you for a long time.
At night, when all the birds are asleep, you wander and bawl in the woods
until morning, and in the daytime, when you have to work, you hide from
the sun in the bushes and doze there like a lazy girl. Okay, so be it. You will
continue to lay your eggs on smooth moss, where shepherds will annoy you
and your chicks. And for your notorious laziness, let them call you from
now on Lazy Owl.

So until now, the owl does not build a nest for itself, but lays eggs directly
in the moss or on a heather hummock, as the Forest Father told him.

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