154 WAKE-ROBIN 



ing in the loop of a grapevine, beneath a thick 

 canopy of green branches, in a secluded nook by a 

 spring run, one of these birds came pursuing some 

 kind of insect, but a few feet above me. He 

 hopped about, now and then uttering his sharp 

 note, till, some moth or beetle trying to escape, he 

 broke down through the cover almost where I sat. 

 The effect was like a firebrand coming down through 

 the branches. Instantly catching sight of me, he 

 darted away much alarmed. The female is tinged 

 with brown, and shows but little red except when 

 she takes flight. 



By far the most abundant species of woodpecker 

 about Washington is the red-headed. It is more 

 common than the robin. Not in the deep woods, 

 but among the scattered dilapidated oaks and groves, 

 on the hills and in the fields, I hear almost every 

 day his uncanny note, ktr-rr, ktr-r-r, like that of 

 some larger tree-toad, proceeding from an oak grove 

 just beyond the boundary. He is a strong- scented 

 fellow, and very tough. Yet how beautiful, as he 

 flits about the open woods, connecting the trees by 

 a gentle arc of crimson and white ! This is another 

 bird with a military look. His deliberate, dignified 

 ways, and his bright uniform of red, white, and 

 steel-blue, bespeak him an officer of rank. 



Another favorite beat of mine is northeast of the 

 city. Looking from the Capitol in this direction, 

 scarcely more than a mile distant, you see a broad 

 green hill-slope, falling very gently, and spreading 

 into a large expanse of meadow-land. The summit, 



