104 NATURE STUDY LESSONS FOR PRIMARY GRADES 



come at the same time as the robin? When did we 

 hear the first robin ? When the first red-headed wood- 

 pecker? Could you tell that he was here without 

 seeing him ? (Yes, by his drumming.) How did it 

 sound? ("Tap! tap! tap!" very fast, then "tap! 

 tap ! " very loud, with a pause between the two taps.) 

 What did he use for his drum ? (A dry limb or some- 

 times a shingle on the house.) What did he use to beat 

 the drum with? (His bill.) Does he never sing? 

 (No ; and he is too happy to keep still, so he beats a 

 drum to make music.) Does he have but one drum? 

 (Each woodpecker has a favorite place where he 

 goes to drum. One spring one wakened me very 

 early every morning by drumming on a shingle in 

 the roof just above my head. Woodpeckers drum in 

 other places, too, as they fly about getting their food.) 

 Find out whether they do most of their drumming in 

 the morning or in the afternoon. How early do they 

 begin ? When you hear one, run and ask your mamma 

 what time it is. Do they drum very long at a time ? 

 Do they drum constantly, or stop to rest a little once 

 in a while? What do they do when resting? The 

 drumming seems to be a call to the mate. See if the 

 children arrive at this conclusion by noticing that the 

 bird acts as if he were listening, and later is some- 



