194 Birds Every Child Should Know 



clinging by his stout toes, the woodpecker keeps 

 hammering and chiselling at his home more 

 hours every day than a labour imion would 

 allow. Two inches of digging with his strong 

 combination tool means a hard day's work. 

 The hole usually nms straight in for a few inches, 

 then curves downward into a pear-shaped 

 chamber large enough for a comfortable nursery. 

 A week or ten days may be spent by a couple in 

 making it. The chips by which this good work- 

 man is known are left on the nursery floor, for 

 woodpeckers do not pamper their babies with 

 fine grasses, feathers or fur cradle linings, as 

 the chickadee and some other birds do. A 

 well-regulated woodpecker's nest contains five 

 glossy-white eggs. 



Sheltered from the rain, wind and sun, hidden 

 from almost every enemy except the red 

 squirrel, woodpecker babies lie secure in their 

 dark, warm nursery, with no excitement ex- 

 cept the visits of their parents with a fat grub. 

 Then how quickly they scramble up the walls 

 toward the light and dinner! 



YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER 



This woodpecker I am sorry to introduce to 

 you as the black sheep of his family, with 

 scarcely a friend to speak a good word for him. 



