26 THE WOODPECKERS 



run it through him. Then the little bird would 

 catch hold as tightly as he could and hang on 

 while his father jerked him up and down for a 

 second or a second and a half with great ra- 

 pidity. What was he doing ? He was pumping 

 food from his own stomach into the little one's. 

 Many birds feed their young in this way. They 

 do not hold the food in their own mouths, but 

 swallow and perhaps partially digest it, so that it 

 shall be fit for the tender little stomachs. 



While the woodpecker was pumping in this 

 manner his motions were much the same as when 

 he drummed, but his tail twitched as rapidly as 

 his head and his wings quivered. The motion 

 seemed to shake his whole body. 



In two weeks from the time when the little 

 birds were blind, naked, helpless nestlings they 

 became fully feathered and full grown, able to 

 climb up to the top of the nest, from which 

 they looked out with curiosity and interest. 

 At any noise they would slip silently back. A 

 day or two later they left the old nest and began 

 their journeys. 



No naturalist has been able to tell us whether 

 other woodpeckers than the golden-winged flicker 

 feed their young in this way, and little is known 

 of the number of kinds of birds that use this 

 method, but it is suspected that it is far more 



