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HOW THE WOODPECKER COURTS HIS MATE 



OTHER birds woo their mates with songs, but 

 the woodpecker has no voice for singing. He can- 

 not pour out his soul in melody and tell his love 

 his devotion in music. How do songless birds 

 express their emotions ? Some by grotesque ac- 

 tions and oglings, as the horned owl, and some 

 by frantic dances, as the sharp-tailed grouse, 

 woo and win their mates ; but the amorous 

 woodpecker, not excepting the flickers, which 

 also woo by gestures, whacks a piece of sea- 

 soned timber, and rattles off interminable mes- 

 sages according to the signal code set down for 

 woodpeckers' love affairs. He is the only in- 

 strumental performer among the birds ; for the 

 ruffed grouse, though he drums, has no drum. 



There is no cheerier spring sound, in our be- 

 lated Northern season, than the quick, melodious 

 rappings of the sapsucker from some dead ash 

 limb high above the meadow. It is the best 

 performance of its kind : he knows the capabili- 

 ties of his instrument, and gets out of it all the 



