166 THE SECOND BOOK OF BIRDS 
in trees, others in knot-holes or under bark that 
is loose. Many he fits into cracks in the bark, 
and hammers in tight. He has been known to 
fill the cracks in a gate-post, and in railroad ties, 
and even to poke his nuts between the shingles 
on a roof. Any place where he can wedge a 
nut in he seems to think is a good one. 
A woodpecker can eat almost anything. Be- 
sides insects and nuts, he likes wild berries of all 
kinds — dogwood, cedar, and others that he 
finds in the woods. 
The nest of the red-headed woodpecker is 
usually cut out in the dead top or limb of a 
tree. In prairie lands, where trees are scarce, he 
contents himself with telegraph-poles and fence- 
posts. 
This bird is rather a dainty feeder. He does 
not swallow his food wherever he finds it, as 
many birds do. He likes a regular dining-table. 
So he takes it to some place on top of a fence- 
post or an old stump, where he has found or 
made a little hollow. There he puts his nut or 
acorn, picks it to pieces, and eats it in bits. 
The young red-head is a good deal lke his 
father, only his head is brown instead of red. 
A queer thing happened to a baby red-head in 
Indiana one summer. He was found on the 
ground, hopping about in a pitiful way, unable 
