THE GREEN WOODPECKER. 167 



THE WOODPECKER. 



Hail to thee, woodpecker, clothed in green ! 

 How thy verdant mantle concealeth thee ; 

 'Mid the waving foliage scarcely seen, 

 As thou climbest the boughs of the forest-tree. 

 The theme of the villager's song art thou, 

 The woodpecker tapping the hollow beech-bough. 



Throughout all the land that song has been heard* 



Yet thousands there are, who but for the song 

 Would never have known the name of the bird, 

 Or thought of its habits the woods among. 

 The theme of the villager's song is he, 

 The woodpecker tapping the hollow beech-tree. 



The shepherd that rests in the beechen shade, 

 While his flocks in the level pastures graze : 

 The woodman at work in the forest-glade, 



Or the sportsman threading the woody maze : 

 All these the green bird of the ballad may see, 

 The woodpecker tapping the hollow beech-tree. 



Though I've marked the note of many a bird, 

 Wandering alone in the field or the wood, 

 The woodpecker's tapping but once have I heard, 

 As under the green boughs I silently stood ; 

 For a shy and a timid bird is he, 

 The woodpecker tapping the hollow beech-tree. 



