Is Theodore Roosevelt's writing ungrammatical?

Question

Here is an excerpt from chapter 8 of Theodore Rex* by Edmund Morris (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40923.Theodore_Rex). Morris quotes some of Roosevelt's writing and calls it ungrammatical. Can you explain what is ungrammatical about the passage? Musing on the behavior of screech owls, he produced one extraordinary, if ungrammatical, image: They come up to the house after dark, and are fond of sitting in the elk-antlers over the gable. When the moon is up, by changing one's position, the little owl appears in sharp outline against the bright disk, seated on his many-tined perch

Answer 1

The "ungrammatical" element Morris refers to may be the misplaced modifier in the last sentence. The modifier "by changing one's position" suggests it is meant to modify the observer of the owl (that is, the "one" who is observing the movements of the owl), not the owl itself. But in Roosevelt's phrase, "by changing one's position" modifies "the little owl" that follows it. Misplaced or dangling modifiers are a common mistake, all too easy to make--but still, it seems a pretty minor quibble here. It's a stunning image, as you point out! That's the only grammatical error I see in these lines, but it might help to have more of the passage. Does that help? Are you working on an essay on Roosevelt's writing?