Rockies," a deep oblong hole was pecked in a 

 pine nearly eight hundred years before it died. 

 The hole filled with pitch and was overgrown 

 with bark and wood. 



Woodpeckers commonly nest in a dead limb 

 or trunk, a number of feet from the ground. 

 Here, in the heart of things, they excavate a 

 moderately roomy nest. It is common for many 

 woodpeckers to peck out a deep hole in a dead 

 tree for individual shelter during the winter. 

 Generally neither nest nor winter lodging is used 

 longer than a season. The abandoned holes are 

 welcomed as shelters and nesting-places by many 

 birds that prefer wooden-walled houses but can- 

 not themselves construct them. Chickadees 

 and bluebirds often nest in them. Screech owls 

 frequently philosophize within these retreats. 

 On bitter cold nights these holes shelter and 

 save birds of many species. One autumn day, 

 while watching beneath a pine, I saw fifteen 

 brown nuthatches issue from a woodpecker's 

 hole in a dead limb. Just what they were doing 

 inside I cannot imagine ; the extraordinary num- 

 ber that had gathered therein made the incident 



199 



