16 The Wilson Bulletin — No. 86 



fcra), usually miscalled "poplar'' of the lumbermen, eighty 

 to one hundred feet high, which stood on an eminence between 

 two towns and towards the west end of a strip of timber over 

 two miles long. This big arm was flung westward and parallel 

 with the earth at a height of 50 to 60 feet, and the spot on it 

 where he hammered was barkless, seasoned, hard and white, 

 for it had been used for years. 



Long had I heard the drummer ere I located the drum, 

 which I did one early day in spring. 



By care and stealth I approached near enough with my 

 glass to observe the bird to good advantage. 



His modus operandi was as follows : Sitting uj^right 

 lengthwise on the limb, grasping it firmly and bracing him- 

 self with his tail, poised and with head drawn back and eyes 

 fixed on the spot to be struck; then, making a pass or two, 

 as if about to begin as a skillful penman makes a preliminary 

 flourish, he came suddenly and almost savagely down on the 

 limb ; and though the blows were slowly and lightly delivered 

 at first, they increased in speed and force one by one to the 

 highest power, whence they diminished to the close. Thus 

 his roll was composed of a dozen strokes delivered as an 

 ascending and descending climax. These tones were of a 

 peculiar rich, resonant xylophone quality, echoing in ever 

 widening and pleasing circles off through the woods. 



After the delivery he would relax, pause as if to note the 

 effect, or more probably to listen for a response from mate 

 or distant neighbor, for this habit may hark back to a time 

 when some such means of "wireless"' was necessary in the 

 vast reach of unbroken forest. Thus there were codes ere 

 Morse's invention and ere the white man arrived to plant 

 the poles. 



Then he would hop about on the limb a little perhaps, cock 

 his head this way and that to take in the world below, dress 

 his feathers for a time or search for parasites. But, although 

 so deliberate, he did not long forget what he was there for 

 and would gather himself together to smite his musical instru- 

 ment again. The gravity and intense concentration of this 

 act made it almost ludicrous to the beholder were it not for 



