WESTERN BIRDS Woodpecker 



feeding. This resting bird was a trifle smaller and looked 

 like a young bird, the black on the chest being more 

 marked with white than in the case of the others. Pres- 

 ently he flew away and I thought no more about his 

 presence until all three birds came to the wires at once 

 and after the two parents had fed and left, this third bird 

 went into the hole and stayed there. 



It was the habit of the adults to fly about in the 

 neighborhood inspecting the poles, or flying through the 

 air, for most of the food. Sometimes they were out of 

 sight but they did not stay long. When a bird came he, 

 or she, popped into the nest, stayed a minute and came 

 out, sometimes giving the jd-cob call, which both birds 

 used. 



After the third mysterious bird had gone into the 

 nest I kept my eyes riveted upon it so as to know how 

 long it stayed in the pole. When the birds came to feed 

 they did not go inside but reached over and fed, then 

 left. Three times one of them did this and the fourth 

 time, when the male came, he stood on one side of the 

 hole and I heard him give low guttural notes. It seemed 

 quite evident that he was saying: "See here, you young 

 scamp, it is high time that you were coming out of there. 

 Let me get in and attend to your brothers and sisters 

 as I should!" Presently the truant young, for such he 

 surely was, appeared in the doorway and, with open 

 mouth, begged for just one bite. "Please don't scold, 

 Father dear," I felt sure he was saying, "it was so nice 

 and cozy down there and the children were glad to have 

 me — really they were." But the otherwise indulgent 

 parent was unrelenting and the third bird, no longer 

 mysterious, flew out on to the wire while his father went 

 inside. 



Just to prove that he was not all a baby, the former 

 nestling turned in and helped feed. Several times he 

 went into the hole and came directly out. I might have 



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