THE WOODPECKER. 



225 



works in less rebellious woods. But the woodpecker of France and 

 Germany, compelled to pierce the 

 bark of our ancient European oaks, 

 possesses quite a different instrument 

 — a hard, strong, and heavy bill. It 

 is probable that he devotes more 

 hours to his toil than his American 

 congener. He is, as a labourer, 

 bound by hard conditions, working- 

 more and earning less. In dry 

 seasons especially, his lot is wretched ; 

 his prey flies from him, and retires to 

 an extreme distance, in search of 

 moisture. Therefore he invokes the 

 rain, with constant cry: "Plieii! 

 Flieu! " It is thus that the common 

 people interpret his note ; in Bur- 

 gundy he is caUed The Miller's Pro- 

 curer; woodpecker and miller, if the 

 rain should not descend, would stand 

 still and run the risk of starving. 



One eminent ornithologist, Tous- 

 senel, an excellent and ingenious 

 observer, seems to me mistaken in 

 his judgment of tlie woodpecker's 

 character, when he pronounces him a 

 lively bird. For on what grounds ? 

 On the amusing curvets in which he 

 indulges to gain the heart of his love. 

 But who among us, or among more 

 serious beings, in such a case, does /y-^, 

 not do the same ? He calls him also ^ 



a tumbler and a clown, because at his appearance he wheeled round 

 rapidly. For a bird whose powers of flight are very limited, it was 



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