i6o BOMBAY DUCKS 



little mistake such as this. Human beings sometimes 



do equally silly things. 



A carpenter was once given an order to make a dog 

 kennel to accommodate a retriever and her puppy. The 

 kennel arrived. Although one-chambered, it had two 

 entrances, a large and a small one. On being asked 

 why he had made two doors, the thoughtful carpenter 

 replied that he had made the big one for the mother 

 and the small one for the puppy ! 



Woodpecker's eggs, like those of nearly all birds 

 which lay in holes, are white. In such cases it is 

 important that the eggs should be conspicuous, other- 

 wise some might become separated in the dark from 

 the main clutch and so fail to be hatched. Birds cannot 

 count, but they can see. 



There are fifty-six species of woodpeckers found in 

 India, and all of these, with the exception of one genus, 

 comprising three species, nest in cavities in trees. The 

 exceptional genus, which is known to ornithologists as 

 Micropternus, lays its eggs in holes made in the large 

 ants' nests which are attached to the branches of trees. 

 As woodpeckers feed chiefly on ants, their laying eggs 

 in the nests of these insects is obviously a case of 

 adding insult to injury. 



But the Micropterni seem to be in every way dis- 

 reputable birds. Blanford informs us that they have a 

 " peculiar, strong, unpleasant smell," and that " their 

 plumage is almost always smeared with a gummy sub- 

 stance derived from ants' nests, and the heads of ants 

 are often found attached to their tail-feathers." 



