THE WOODPECKER. 13? 



bird is four or five weeks in constructing it. The bird is 

 active and restless, singing sweetly in the spring. The 

 young remain with their parents during the winter, and 

 often sleep huddled together on a branch, so as to appear 

 like a ball of down. This practice is common amongst 

 the small birds. 



PENDULINE TITMOUSE. 



It is of a reddish brown colour, and suspends its nest at 

 the extremity of some weak branch that hangs over the 

 water ; the entrance is generally opposite the water. His 

 constructed of the down of the thistle, poplar, and willow, 

 strengthened with the fibres and roots of plants, the whole 

 being lined with the softest materials. These birds are 

 found in many parts of Europe. 



THE RED-HEADED WOODPECKER. 



THIS bird is well known as an inhabitant of the Ameri- 

 can woods, and as a frequent visitor of the cherry-trees in 

 the season of fruit. He makes his nest by digging with 

 his beak into the trunk or limb of some decayed tree, 

 forming a circular cavity, in which the eggs are deposited 

 and the young ones hatched. 



Although he is fond of fruit, and often devours great 

 quantities of Indian corn, when in the milk, yet he lives 

 chiefly on insects. His sagacity in finding them is asto- 

 nishing. He climbs along the trunks of trees, and dis- 

 covers by the appearance of the bark where the insect is 

 lurking. If he is doubtful, he drums and rattles with his 

 beak vehemently on the spot, and his acute ear distin- 

 guishes his terrified victim within, shrinking to his utmost 

 'retreat, where his pointed and barbed tongue soon reaches 

 him. The multitude of caterpillars, bugs, and worms, 

 which one of these birds devours in a day, is surprising. 



N'2 



