BIRDS OF PEASEMARSH 



Evidently they prefer their own natural sites 

 when procurable. 



A far-seeing bird lover has remarked that 

 of all the Woodpecker family the Redhead is 

 most in danger of being lost to the farms. 

 When he states as evidence that in motoring 

 for thirty miles through the country he saw 

 only one (though Flicker and Downy were 

 quite numerous), his note of warning rings 

 true. 



There is this about Redhead, if he once con- 

 sents to keep house in a hollow tree or a nest 

 box, he will come year after year, and so, care- 

 fully guarding his nesting place will help to 

 keep him with us. 



The Redhead and little Downy, the black 

 and white Woodpecker with the red spot on the 

 back of his head, and his cousin Hairy, that 

 resembles him so closely, are among our most 

 beneficial workers among the trees. Their 

 sharp beaks can dig the grubs out of the wood 

 or hammer away the loose bark to get the in- 

 sects from underneath. Hairy and Downy 

 also nest in holes in trees, as do the Nuthatch 

 and the little Chickadee, but as these birds 

 spend the winter with us we shall read of them 



[48] 



