BIRD-DOM. 



THE ALERT EYE. 



" What do you call that bird ? " 



I looked up at my companion in surprise. 

 Could he really be in earnest in asking the ques- 

 tion, or did he only mean to chaff me and test my 

 knowledge of bird life? For I had just been tell- 

 ing him of my studies in ornithology. Bat the 

 nonplussed expression on his face showed that he 

 actually did not know the name of the bird, and 

 so I answered, avoiding a patronizing tone : 



" That, sir, is the red-headed woodpecker." 



" Oh ! is that so ? " 



We were walking along one of the suburban 

 streets of the town in which I live, when one of 

 these familiar woodpeckers flew across the road be- 

 fore us, and alighting on the trunk of a tree near 

 at hand, began his upward march in characteristic 

 fashion. Although I am always interested in the 



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