II. 



A MYSTERIOUS STRANGER. 



MY first sight of the little stranger was one 

 morning when returning from a long stroll in 

 search of a nest of the red-headed woodpecker. 

 It was not through the woods I had been, as 

 might be expected. I did not search the dead 

 limbs or lifeless trees ; on the contrary, I fol- 

 lowed the dusty road and examined the tele- 

 graph poles, for the woodpecker of these latter 

 days has departed from the ways of his fathers, 

 deserted the cool and fragrant woods, and taken 

 up his abode in degenerate places, a fitting 

 change of residence to follow his change of 

 habit from digging his prey out of the tree- 

 trunks to catching it on the wing. 



On this special morning I found holes enough, 

 and birds enough, but no hole that seemed to 

 belong to any particular bird ; and as I walked 

 along home by the railroad, I came upon my 

 little stranger. He was seated comfortably, as 

 it appeared, on a telegraph wire, so comfortably, 

 indeed, that he did not care to disturb himself 

 for any stray mortal who might chance to pass. 



