36 GLIMPSES OF INDIAN BIRDS 



stance, the bird kept hopping about looking very dis- 

 tressed. Consequently, I came to the conclusion that 

 its nest must be in the trunk of the tree near which I 

 was crouching. I stood up and examined the trunk 

 carefully, but found no signs of a nest. I again sat 

 down and waited until the patience of the woodpecker 

 should be exhausted, but it continued to hop about on 

 a log of wood with the food in its beak and disgust 

 plainly depicted in its face. At the end of half an hour 

 I went off mystified. The following day I returned to 

 the spot, and the first thing that caught my eye was 

 the entrance to the woodpecker's nest eight inches off 

 the ground in the trunk by which I had sat on the 

 previous day. I had then unwittingly been blocking 

 the approach of the bird ! 



