202 IN BIRD LAND. 
countenances proper reveal very little of the emo- 
tion swelling in their breasts. 
Yet by the movements of their bodies you can 
easily read their feelings. You can tell at a glance 
by the conduct of a bird whether or not it is alarmed 
at your presence, or whether it is engaged in a frolic 
or in watching a wily foe. How different is the 
behavior of most birds in the breeding-season, with 
a nest near at hand, from their demeanor at other 
times! Look at that brown thrasher perched ina 
tree-top on a spring morning, singing his pzan to 
the surrounding woodland, and notice how fearless 
he appears. Contrast his manners two months 
later when he goes skulking through the tanglewood, 
afraid to be seen. Conceal their secret as they 
may, an expert student of birds can almost always 
tell if there is a nest in the neighborhood. 
It is, therefore, by their conduct rather than by 
their facial expression that birds reveal their love of 
play. ‘That they do have their frolics, no one can 
doubt. Much of their time is occupied in labor, 
and that often of the most serious, if not arduous, 
kind, and they frequently combine toil and play; 
but there are times when they seem to give them- 
selves up to unmixed sportiveness. There is not 
much system in their games, so far as I have ob- 
served. ‘They mostly engage in frolics of a rough- 
and-tumble kind, for the pure love of the fun, and 
perhaps with no thought of winning a prize. 
It is possible, however, that the company of red- 
headed woodpeckers I watched one day in the 
