936 THE STORY OF THE BIRDS. 
able. I would bind little bits of meat skin to the 
limbs for these birds, but the blue jays would devour 
them. 
These last two little birds are very greedy about 
meat. In the old days, when the “smokehouses” of 
the rural regions were of logs unchinked, these little 
fellows dug into the hams and middlings, and the 
crested tit is especially known as “ meat-eater”’ among 
some old Southern folk yet. 
To induce them to build with me, I put up 
gourds with holes too small for the sparrows, but 
nothing but the house wrens ever used them. In my 
region the tits are rather deep-woods builders. 
Sometimes the downy woodpecker comes in this 
crowd—but oftener alone. He is especially fond of a 
bone. The dog likes to gnaw his under the window, 
so that he can watch that his master does not go out 
without him. Here he may leave it, and the little 
bird will steal up to it, rarely flying directly, but 
jumping awkwardly along the ground from a near 
tree. It is pitiable to note his anxiety and fear along 
with his enjoyment. No matter how good it tastes 
he must leave it occasionally, fly to the tree, and 
sneeze up his courage awhile. This on-the-ground 
business seems queer to him, and he is not comfort- 
able unless his claws grasp the bark occasionally. 
Then he creeps to the bone again, sneezing at me 
to see if [ am dangerous. 
His larger cousin, the hairy woodpecker, comes 
not so often now as formerly, when the Siberian 
crabs had so many grubs in them. 
