WOODPECKERS AT DINNER. 43 



fits them out for life before they leave the 

 seclusion of the nursery. There is no callow, 

 immature period in the face of the world, no 

 "green " age for the gibes or superior airs of 

 elders. A woodpecker out of the nest is a 

 woodpecker in the dress and with the bearing of 

 his fathers, — dignified, serene, and grown up. 



As the sweet June days advanced, the young 

 bird in the oak-tree grew bolder. He no longer 

 darted in when a saucy sparrow came near, and 

 when the parent arrived with food the cries be- 

 came so loud that all the world could know that 

 here were young woodpeckers at dinner. Now, 

 too, he began to spend much time in dressing 

 his plumage, in preparation for the grand de- 

 but. Usually, when a young bird begins to 

 dally with the temptation to fly, so rapid is 

 growth among birds, he may be expected out in 

 a few hours. In this deliberate family it is dif- 

 ferent ; indeed, taking flight must be a greater 

 step for a woodpecker than for a bird from an 

 open nest. 



Three days the youngster had been debating 

 whether it were "to be or not to be," and more 

 and more he lingered in the doorway, sitting 

 far enough out to show his black necklace. His 

 was no longer the wondering gaze of infancy, to 

 which all things are equally strange ; it was a 

 discriminating look, — the head turned quickly, 



