214 STORIES OF BIRD LIFE 



their nest in the stump and dug out another in a tall dead 

 tree where the boy who had robbed them before could not 

 molest them further. Late that summer I saw the young 

 ones flying about the grove with their parents. In appear- 

 ance they were much the same as the old ones, but the head 

 and neck of each was a grayish brown. Not until many 

 months had passed did they get their red feathers. 



The bird has many call notes, al- 

 though it has no song. One which 

 it often uses in the summer resem- 

 bles closely the note of the common 

 tree frog, and it is said that the bird 

 and frog sometimes answer one an- 

 other;, each possibly thinking it is calling to one of its own 

 kind. The strongest note of the redhead is given when he 

 sounds his love-call from the dead resounding limb of 

 some tall tree. It is produced by striking the hard wood 

 very rapidly with his bill. As he hears his loud stirring 

 signal go re-echoing through the woodland, he settles back 

 on his perch until, faintly borne to his listening ears, comes 

 the well known answering tap of a beloved bill, and he 

 starts up to sound a reply. 



To me this is one of the most stirring notes in nature. 

 Among the earliest scenes which I can recall is the sight 

 of one of these birds sounding his drum from the top of a 



