164 THE SECOND BOOK OF BIRDS 
up to the door of their snug home, they stick their 
heads out and call for something to eat. Then 
one can hardly pass through the woods without 
hearing them, for they have good loud voices. 
And of course they are always hungry. 
The way they are fed is by regurgitation. 
That is, the old bird swallows the food she gets, 
and when she wants to feed, she jerks it up 
again. She thrusts her bill far down the little 
one’s throat, as I told you the hummingbird 
does. Then she gives three or four pokes as if 
she were hammering it down. A young flicker 
does not seem to know how to swallow. A lady 
once picked up a nestling who was hurt, and to 
get him to eat anything she had to poke it down 
his throat herself. 
The gold-winged woodpecker is a lively bird, 
most interesting to know. He makes so many 
strange noises that I can’t tell you half of them, 
and his ways are as queer as his notes. He does 
not sing much, but he is a great drummer. 
When he finds a tin roof, or eaves gutter that 
pleases him, he will drum on it till he drives the 
family nearly crazy. He seems particularly to 
delight in waking them all up in the morning. 
He can sing, too. I have heard a flicker sing 
a droll little song, not very loud, swinging his 
body from side to side as he did it. 
