44 BIRD LIFE IN AN OLD APPLE-TREE 



seasoned timber till it used its strength up. The 

 one I refer to would cut through a dry hemlock 

 board in a very short time, making the slivers fly. 

 The sound was like that of a carpenter's hammer. 

 It may have been that he was an unmated bird, a 

 bachelor, whose suit had not prospered that season, 

 and who was giving vent to his outraged instincts in 

 drilling these mock nesting-places. 



