278 BIRDS OF FIELD, FOREST AND PARK 



The female, with becoming modesty, flits 

 about the edge of the wood, plainly hearing the 

 love call, yet shyly remaining in the background 

 for a time, lest it appear that her affections are 

 too easily won. P<irhaps, too, she remembers 

 how in previous years, at the approach of cold 

 weather, her faithless mate deserted her, making 

 for himself a new retreat where he passed the 

 winter in selfish solitude. 



But finally the increasing ardor of the lover 

 overcomes her reluctance, she coyly approaches, 

 a formal compact is made, and a pair of happy 

 hearts seeks a suitable tree where a snug home 

 for the brood is excavated. 



The Downy's larger cousin, the Hairy, he of 

 the bold call and louder taps, occasionally reg- 

 isters here; but his autographs take the form of 

 good-sized holes cut in decaying branches or 

 trunk to reach the concealed wood borer. His 

 love making, similar in kind, takes place in the 

 seclusion of the woods, for he is rather a shy 

 bird, not so often seen in the open. 



One spring day as I entered the orchard I 

 caught a flash of red and gold from the farther 

 side, and there came to my ears gentle love 

 notes, soft as the cooing of a dove. On a low 

 limb I saw two male Flickers paying court to 

 the lady of their choice. How they did bow and 

 courtesy, spreading their beautiful tails like 

 fans, the yellow quills shining like ribs of gold, 

 as they bubbled and gurgled with the ecstasy of 

 their wooing! 



Meantime the courted lady, apparently un- 

 moved, sat bolt upright between the two, with 



