Some Familiar Florida Birds 



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in his gorgeous coat of red, blue, lemon and black. A pair of Quail made 

 us almost daily visits for several winters, and frequently sat upon some rustic 

 chairs which adorned our lawn. This close environment of these exceed- 

 ingly shy birds made known to us several characteristics of the species 

 which are not, I think, generally known. One day, the cock stalked 

 inquiringly into the grounds, and soon came upon the food which I had 

 just scattered about. At once he began to pick it up with great gusto. 



FEMAI.H RK1)-BEI.LIF.I) WOODPECKER 



when suddenly he stopped and stood erect. Then, looking about him, he 

 saw an oak tree which had been bent over by heavy winds at quite an acute 

 angle. Running rapidly to the foot of this tree, he walked up the inclined 

 trunk, until he was at least ten feet from the ground. There he stopped, 

 and uttered a very peculiar whistle. It was not the hob -white with 

 ascending accent, but the ivhite alone, the accent sharply descending. A 

 party of friends sat with me on one of the verandas, and, as we watched 

 him, we wondered what would happen next. He repeated the call several 

 times, when suddenly there was a whirr and a rustle of leaves, as his mate, 

 on the wing, shot in through some oleander and guava bushes, and landed, 

 with a bit of a run, right upon the scattered food, and at once began eating 



