GREAT-CRESTED FLYCATCHER. 163 



in this way for a time, he seemed to pick out bits 

 of wood his shavings and drop them to the 

 ground. When tired working at one hole he 

 would go on to another. The bark was torn from 

 an area of several inches, and this was riddled 

 with holes apparently in process of making. The 

 woodpeckers are not perching birds, and so must 

 be put in the drawer with the kingfisher, cuckoo, 

 humming-birds, and others. Of the five we have 

 had, the yellow hammer is the least of a wood- 

 pecker, building comparatively low, having a trill 

 that takes the place of a song, hunting on the 

 ground and fences as well as on trees for his food, 

 and, accordingly, assuming an earth-colored dis- 

 guise that would be of little use to the other 

 woodpeckers. The sapsucker and the yellow 

 hammer go south for the winter, but the downy 

 and hairy are permanent residents, while the red- 

 headed woodpecker's presence is entirely depen- 

 dent on the food supply. The sapsucker is the 

 most boisterous of the five the sombre hairy 

 and downy the most silent. Of them all the red- 

 head is the family beauty. 



XLIX. 



GREAT-CRESTED FLYCATCHER. 



IN spring, when a loud piercing whistle comes 

 shrilling from the woods one note given in ris- 



