Bird Gods in Ancient Europe 



along the larger branches ; my mind's eye was 

 aware how his amazing Httle serpent of a 

 tongue was darting through dark, involved bur- 

 rows deep in the wood to ferret out grubs and 

 beetles. Presently he came in sight on an 

 overhanging limb. He scuttled along below 

 the branch like a fly on a ceiling. Brave in his 

 blood-red hood and mottled back, he turned his 

 bright red eye sharply this way and that. Sud- 

 denly he laughed again; an echo seemed to 

 return it. Then he paused. Had he caught 

 sight of me and recognized man, the universal 

 policeman, tyrant, murderer ? At any rate he 

 moved on. In short rapid ups and downs of 

 flight he made for a dead tree across the glade 

 and slipped round the trunk to peep at me 

 from the other side. 



I have heard Germans say that the wood- 

 pecker bores into a branch and then scuttles 

 round on the opposite side to see if the hole 

 has gone quite through ! Lucky little one, to 

 find a dead tree at all, considering the fanaticism 



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