208 TWO LITTLE DRUMMERS. 



amusement, but again it appeared exceedingly 

 like a signal. A bird frequently settled himself 

 in plain sight of us, on one of the trespass no- 

 tices in the woods, and spent several minutes in 

 that occupation, changing his place now and 

 then, and thus producing different sounds, 

 whether with that intention or not. Now he 

 would tap on top of the board, again down one 

 side, and then on a corner, but always on the 

 edge. Nor was it a regular and monotonous 

 rapping ; it was curiously varied. One perform- 

 ance that I carefully noted down at the mo- 

 ment reminded me of the click of a telegraph 

 instrument. It was "rat-tat-tat-t-t-t-t-rat-tat," 

 the first three notes rather quick and sharp, 

 the next four very rapid, and the last two quite 

 slow. After tapping, the bird always seemed to 

 listen. Often while I was watching one at his 

 hammering, a signal of the same sort would come 

 from a distance. Sometimes my bird replied; 

 sometimes he instantly flew in the direction from 

 which it came. Around the house the wood- 

 peckers selected particular spots to use as drums, 

 generally a bit of tin on a roof, or an eave- 

 gutter of the same metal. A favorite place was 

 the hindquarters of a gorgeous gilded deer that 

 swung with the wind on the roof of the barn. 



So closely were they watched that the sap- 

 suckers themselves were like old acquaintances 



