Junior Naturalist Monthly. 309 



LESSON VII.— A LITTLE FARM TENANT. 



The leaves have fallen and the orchard is still; but we like to be 

 out among the old apple trees, the downy woodpecker and I. He 

 works and I watch him, this useful little farm hand. 



You must not confound the downy woodpecker with his near 

 relation, the sapsucker, that drills rings of holes in the orchard trees. 

 The sapsucker has yellow on the under parts instead of white and, if 

 you look closely, you ^vill find other ways in which he differs from 

 the downy. 



When you go into the orchard and see a woodpecker on one of the 

 trees, look at him very closely. Is he smaller than a robin, black 

 above, white below, and red on the nape? If so, he is a downy 

 woodpecker. The female bird has no red on the nape. 



In a former Leaflet we have told you why the downy woodpecker 

 is a valuable tenant on the farm. This year we want you to tell us 

 from your own observations why he is helpful. Here are some 

 things to think about as you study him: 



L What does the do\\Tiy woodpecker find to eat under the bark 

 of trees? Have you ever looked to see? 



2. Notice his toes. How are they arranged? 



3. How does he brace himself as he works? Watch him do this. 



4. Have you ever seen him eat seeds of weeds that farmers do not 

 like on their lands? 



5. Fasten a piece of suet to a tree near your home, and I doubt 

 not that the do-^oiy woodpecker will often visit you. 



LETTERS TO UNCLE JOHN. 



As the days go by and we receive letters from our boys and girls, 

 we find them more and more satisfactory. A few years ago Junior 

 Naturalists often wrote us about things that they read in books. 

 Now they are telling us of the things they themselves see. Each 

 month we hope to publish two or three of the best letters. Here is 

 one that is excellent: 



Dear Uncle John: — 



This morning I got a basket full of dandelions with flowers on for the teacher 

 and we are studying them now. On the dandelion which has a yellow flower, 

 are two colors, yellow and green. The dandelion with the balloon has two colors, 

 white and green. When the boys play ball and play a little late, some take the 

 dandelion balloon and blow it three times. If all the seeds go off, their mother 

 wants them. 



We had no school Thursday afternoon and so I went out to Capron on a wagon 

 with my uncle. I saw one field just full of the stems of the balloons, because all 



