Red-headed Woodpecker. 85 



solitary reverie, staDding against tlie perpendicular side 

 of a stub or trunk, tapping listlessly now and then from 

 sheer force of habit, or drumming occasionally to practice 

 their musical rattle. Like the other woodpeckers, they 

 are either noticeably noisy or impressively silent. They 

 are true woodsmen, at times reserved and even taciturn, 

 at others gay and frolicsome to the verge of excess. The 

 real nature of the woodpeckers disposes them to solitude 

 and contemplation, and I have thought that the gambols 

 of the red-heads are the reactions of their deeply medita- 

 tive moods. Our red-headed friends are philosophers at 

 least in appearance, for when alone every action of theirs 

 seems to be preceded by calm forethought and deliberate 

 judgment. Observe the silent deportment of an individ- 

 ual braced along the top of a stub or favorite branch ! 

 How deliberate and thoughtful is his air as he looks 

 calmly either right or left, or gazes stolidly at the surface 

 before him, and perhaps strikes a few steady blows with his 

 sharp pick, as though seeking a morsel beneath the bark ! 

 He is, however, only ruminating on important questions 

 of Picine policy, for he has lately dined on ants picked 

 from a decaying stump that he claims as his larder, and 

 he is therefore not hungry, but well fed, and has time to 

 consider such weighty matters as demand his attention. 

 In their vocal efforts the woodpeckers make no claims 

 to musical genius; but while they arc not gifted with 

 powers of song, the red-headed woodpeckers are skillful 

 and finished in their instrumental performances. Their 

 appreciation of rhythm and resonance is often clearly 

 shown in the resounding reveilles they beat upon their 

 favorite branches or other suitable instruments. The 

 steeple of a church adjoining my father's residence was a 

 favorite resort for the red-heads of the vicinity who de- 

 sired to practice their love calls. Its tin covering and 

 hollow structure formed a famous sounding-board, and 

 their loud drumming upon it could be heard an extraor- 

 dinary distance. I frequently wondered what the silly 

 red-heads could find in that tin- covered steeple as a mo- 

 tive for their continuous tapping, seemingly kept up in- 

 termittently for many minutes on some occasions. As I 

 became more observant, however, I found that the tap- 



