TREE-TRUNK BIRDS 181 
tree-trunk birds that bore holes, and think that they 
are mischievous and destructive, whereas they never 
pierce bark unless an insect lurks beneath, and when 
they bore a nest-hole in a tree, it is the same as saying 
to its owner, ‘See, this wood is dead; I am making use 
of what is otherwise useless to you and I will pay you 
rent by protecting your other trees from harm. If you 
watch well, you will see how many hairy caterpillars, 
birch-lice, and wood-boring beetles I will kill in the 
year.’”’ 
“The gutter is all mended and painted now, so the 
Nuthatches can’t nest there next season, and I guess 
they will be very sorry,’ said Clary, who had taken her 
turn at looking out the window. 
“Yes, the cornice has been mended, but Jacob has 
hollowed out a bit of hickory branch with the bark on 
it, and has fastened it firmly under the cornice with 
screws, so that when the birds look up their home in 
spring, they will find a new one so close to the old place 
that I hope they will move into it. In fact, those pictures 
in the workroom, of bird-homes made of hollowed-out 
logs, were designed especially to attract these tree-trunk 
birds and their little companions, the Chickadees, who, 
though they search the twigs for food, love the trunk 
also, and nest in a wood hollow like the Woodpeckers, 
themselves.” 
“He’s come back again, but he hasn’t brought suet 
this time; it’s some kind of a big seed that won’t stay 
in the shingle crack, so he’s pounding it in,” said Sarah, 
looking over Clary’s shoulder and dropping her sewing, 
so interested was she in the movements of the bird. 
