WINTER NEIGHBORS 



winter nights to know he is warm and cosy 

 there in his retreat. When the day is bad 

 and unfit to be abroad in, he is there too. 

 When I wish to know if he is at home, I 

 go and rap upon his tree, and, if he is not 

 too lazy or indifferent, after some delay he 

 shows his head in his round doorway about 

 ten feet above, and looks down inquiringly 

 upon me, — sometimes latterly I think half 

 resentfully, as much as to say, " I would 

 thank you not to disturb me so often." 

 After sundown, he will not put his head 

 out any more when I call, but as I step 

 away I can get a glimpse of him inside look- 

 ing cold and reserved. He is a late riser, 

 especially if it is a cold or disagreeable 

 morning, in this respect being like the barn 

 fowls ; it is sometimes near nine o'clock 

 before I see him leave his tree. On the 

 other hand, he comes home early, being in, 

 if the day is unpleasant, by four p. m. He 

 lives all alone ; in this respect I do not com- 

 mend his example. W^here his mate is, I 

 should like to know. 



I have discovered several other wood- 

 peckers in adjoining orchards, each of which 

 has a like home, and leads a like solitary 

 life. One of them has excavated a dry 



27 



