28 THE LIFE OF A BIRD. 



a tree will present ten or twelve holes which have 

 been scooped out by these industrious artizans ; 

 the birds apparently abandoning some parts which 

 yielded less easily to their efforts than others. 

 Wilson says, " the sagacity of the gold- winged 

 woodpecker in discovering under a sound bark a 

 hollow limb or trunk of a tree, and its perseve- 

 rance in perforating it for the purpose of incuba- 

 tion, are truly surprising." At this arduous task 

 they ply so intently as to be heard till a very late 

 hour in the evening thumping like carpenters. 

 The last author says, " I have seen an instance 

 where they had dug first five inches straight 

 forward, and then downward more than twice that 

 distance, through a black oak." It does not seem 

 improbable that the birds find out the diseased 

 parts by the difference of sound heard on their 

 being struck. Mr. Gould says that the owlet 

 night-jar, an Australia? bird, selects the hollow 

 upper limbs or trunks of trees in the forests of 

 that country for its retreat, and on tapping with 

 a tomahawk at the bottom of the trunk, the 

 bird peeps out at the top as if to inquire who 

 was there ! * 



* Birds of Australia. 



