136 SIGNS AND SEASONS 



thology that certain of our woodpeckers — probably 

 all the winter residents — each fall excavate a limb 

 or the trunk of a tree in which to pass the winter, 

 and that the cavity is abandoned in the spring, 

 probably for a new one in which nidification takes 

 place. So far as I have observed, these cavities are 

 drilled out only by the males. Where the females 

 take up their quarters I am not so well informed, 

 though I suspect that they use the abandoned holes 

 of the males of the previous year. 



The particular woodpecker to which I refer drilled 

 his first hole in my apple-tree one fall four or five 

 years ago. This he occupied till the following 

 spring, when he abandoned it. The next fall he 

 began a hole in an adjoining limb, later than before, 

 and when it was about half completed a female took 

 possession of his old quarters. I am sorry to say 

 that this seemed to enrage the male very much, and 

 he persecuted the poor bird whenever she appeared 

 upon the scene. He would fly at her spitefully 

 and drive her ofif. One chilly November morning, 

 as I passed under the tree, I heard the hammer of 

 the little architect in his cavity, and at the same 

 time saw the persecuted female sitting at the en- 

 trance of the other hole as if she would fain come 

 out. She was actually shivering, probably from 

 both fear and cold. I understood the situation at 

 a glance; the bird was afraid to come forth and 

 brave the anger of the male. Not till I had rapped 

 smartly upon the limb with my stick did she come 

 out and attempt to escape; but she had not gone 



