752 Home Nature-Study Course. 



the name of *' friend." The male downy has a bright red cap on the 

 top of his head, but the female shows no such decoration. 



If you are living near large woods, it is possible that the woodpecker 

 known as the " hairy " will visit your suet. Its colors are so like those 

 of the downy that you will hardly be able to distinguish the two. How- 

 ever, the hairy is one-third larger than the downy, being as large as a 

 robin ; while the downy is no larger than the English sparrow. The 

 hairy is also a much wilder bird than the downy, and its actions show 

 great alertness and fear. 



questions for vou to answer from personal observation 



1. How does " friend downy" climb a tree? How does it use its 

 tail in climbing? 



2. How does it go down a tree? Did you ever see it go do\yn head 

 downward ? 



3. Is the downy's beak long or short, and hov/ does it use it for 

 getting food? 



4. Do you know the shape of the woodpecker's tongue, an.l its use 

 in pulling a grub out of the hole? 



5. How are the downy's toes arranged ; and how does this arrange- 

 ment assist it to hold on to the side of a tree while it chops wood with 

 its beak? 



6. Why does " friend downy " stay here during the winter, while 

 its relatives, the flicker and the sapsucker, go south? 



THE W^HITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH 



This cheerful little bird with a song and a beak like a woodpecker's 

 and a taste for the pleasing society of the chickadees, is often a puzzle 

 to the beginner in bird study. It is neither a woodpecker nor a chickadee, 

 but has an individuality all its own and habits that distinguish it readily 

 from both. 



QUESTIONS TO BE ANSWERED BY OBSERVATION 



1. Where does the nuthatch ordinarily alight? Head up or down? 



2. What is there in its actions that has won for it the name of " tree 

 mouse ? " 



