WOODPECKERS AND ANTS 5 



in the small hours hefore the world was awake. 

 Birds have it all to themselves at that time, or, at 

 all events, they seem to think so ; and so they 

 exhibit themselves and their manners and customs 

 with a delightful confidence. I had never seen 

 the green woodpecker before, and it was the sound 

 of a strange cry in the garden that aroused me 

 and made me go to the window. I was quite 



startled when I saw these three large strange- 

 looking birds plunging their bills into the ants' 

 nests, keeping them there a moment or two, then 

 withdrawing them with an air of satisfaction, and 

 again plunging them into the treasure-heap in such 

 a regular and business-like fashion ; but I know 

 their form and fashions well now, for they often 

 pay my ajits' nests a visit in the daytime, when 



