196 Bird -Lore 



frequently noticed the evident blindness of Ducks when they are about to alight 

 in the water. 



This scene continued for half an hour. Then I made the conspicuous mistake 

 of walking forward, to flush the Ducks. The ne.xt morning I waited in an im- 

 })rovised blind on the shore of the pond. A natural growth of low cedars, just 

 in the right place, needed little thatching for this purpose. My camera was 

 mounted on a tripod in the water, and carefully hidden. Not a duck appeared 

 in this particular pond. I was forced to be content with the sketches I had made 

 the dav before. 



Woodpeckers and June-Bugs 



By A. V. GOODPASTURE. Nashville, Tenn. 



THK Redheaded Woodpecker is one of the best-known of our birds. His 

 colors are decided and striking, being sharply defined markings of red, 

 black glossed with blue, and white. He is proud of his plumage, and, 

 in his gay and frolicsome flights, displays it in the most conspicuous manner. 

 He loves our lawn at Dudley, because it is a place of refuge, in whose oaks and 

 maples he may flaunt his finery, and rear his young with none to molest or make 

 him afraid. 



On July 3, I found a nest a pair of them had excavated in the dead branch 

 of a black-jack that stood beside the walk. The}- had just completed the ])rocess 

 of incubation, and were carrying off the broken shells, which they dropped mid- 

 flight at a safe distance from the nest. I witnessed their arduous labor in feeding 

 their brood. Every five minutes by the watch, with onl}- slight variations, one 

 of them appeared with something in its mouth. Though I had a good glass, 

 I could not make out what it brought. The natural food of this Woodpecker 

 is insects, their eggs and larvte, l)ut they are also fond of fruits and berries in 

 their season. While I was sure it was neither of the latter, I could not tell on 

 which of the former they were feeding. Following closely their movements, I dis- 

 covered this interesting state of facts: 



On the farther margin of the road that passes just outside of the lawn, there 

 is a row of young maples. One of these had been broken off by the storms of 

 the jHcceding winter, leaving a shivered stump some four feet high. When one 

 of the Woodpeckers came in, it did not go directly to the nest, l)ut always alighted 

 first on this stump, where it hammered away for a time, then proceeded to the 

 nest with a shapeless mass in its beak. My glass having failed to disclose their 

 oI)ject in thus lighting and hammering on the stump before feeding their young, 

 I went down to reconnoiter. The place looked like a field hospital after a severe 

 engagement. There were wings, and wing-covers, heads and legs strewn around 

 the stump in great profusion. Then I understood it all. The stump was their 

 meat-block, and they were ])re])aring the food for their young by removing the 



