FOREWORD: THE RIDDLERS 3 



almost every part of the country. The CaHfor- 

 nian woodpecker is never seen in the East, nor 

 the red-headed in the far West, but the downy 

 and the hairy are resident nearly everywhere, 

 and some species of the flickers and sapsuckers, 

 if not always the ones chosen for special notice, 

 are visitors in most localities. 



Look for the woodpeckers in orchards and 

 along the edges of thickets, among tangles of 

 wild grapes and in patches of low, wild berries, 

 upon which they often feed, among dead trees 

 and in the track of forest fires. Wherever there 

 are boring larvae, beetles, ants, grasshoppers, the 

 fruit of poison-ivy, dogwood, june-berry, wild 

 cherry or wild grapes, woodpeckers may be con- 

 fidently looked for if there are any in the neigh- 

 borhood. Be patient, persistent, wide-awake, sure 

 that you see what you think you see, careful to 

 remember what you have seen, studious to com- 

 pare your observations, and keen to hear the 

 questions propounded you. If you do this seven 

 years and a day, you will earn the name of Natu- 

 ralist ; and if you travel the road of the naturalist 

 with curious patience, you may some day become 

 as famous a riddle-reader as was that (Edipus, the 

 king of Thebes, who slew the Sphinx. 



