squabs, and their bodies were covered 

 with a downy coat resembhng fur more 

 than feathers. Soon came the last week 

 in the home before their formal "coming 

 out." Feathers quickly took the place 

 of down ; the rapid feeding was greatly 

 lessened, to which the baby birds made 

 constant complaint in a whimpering cry 

 as they peeked out of the nest into the 

 big world where so soon they were to be 

 launched on their first flight, never to re- 

 turn to the nest. 



II. 



It was about the tenth of May of the 

 following spring when my red-headed 

 neighbor returned from his southern 

 trip, where he had spent the winter. He 

 was soon hard at work and had the lawn 

 sprinkled with his white chips about the 

 root of a pine stub, as he burrowed into, 

 the wood a few feet above, where he was 

 making a new nest, the spot having been 

 selected during the past summer. Here, 

 at that time, he had done some prelimin- 

 ary work in the way of a prospect hole, 

 evidently with the view of returning. 



With a quick hammer-like stroke of 

 the head, he drove his sharp polished 

 beak into the decaying wood, rapidly re- 

 peating the strokes till the pulpy fiber 

 was broken down and then with a 

 mouthful of the loosened fragments, he 

 hitched back out of the entrance, flinging 

 the chips to the wind. 



After a quick survey of the surround- 

 ing and a peek around the tree to see if 

 there was any approaching danger, he 

 dove into the hole again to make further 

 excavations, soon returning, tail first, 

 with another mouthful of refuse. After 

 several days' work on the new nest, he 

 came in contact with the hard resinous 

 heart of a knot that he was unable to re- 

 move. To get by this obstruction and 

 still be able to utilize the work done, he 

 changed the entrance from a circle to 

 an ellipse by extending it downward. 

 This bit of strategy worked well in get- 

 ting by the difficulty, but it proved to be 

 only temporary. 



The nest was completed in the allotted 

 two weeks and the female came on time. 

 After a very warm greeting she was 

 shown the nest for her approval ; but on 

 sight of the new-fangled entrance, she 

 halted, showing her disapproval in many 



ways. Tp overcome her objections, the 

 old man -yv^ent in and out as a demonstra- 

 tion; theii hopping close up to her side, 

 he talkea] in a low voice, making many 

 gestures i^ith his head, sometimes pick- 

 ing at the tree in an absent-minded way, 

 as a man thoughtlessly whittles while 

 pleading his cause. Seeing that she did 

 not readily assent, he went in and out 

 three or four times* in rapid succession; 

 then sidling up to her again began his 

 persuasive chatter, but all to no purpose ; 

 she gave a decided answer and flew 

 away. 



After a little hesitation he followed 

 her. In about an hour they came back. 

 After some maneuvering about the yard 

 he got her back to the nest, but not in 

 it. He tried in every way, but no amount 

 of coaxing could induce her to go in, and 

 refusing to listen longer to his argument, 

 she again flew away. Now he was dis- 

 consolate, flying away, then returning 

 to go in and take another look at the nest, 

 then flying to the housetop to pout. Yes, 

 pout, for at all other times he would 

 drum and make a great deal of noise; 

 now, he was sulky and silent. 



Next morning they came back, when, 

 if possible, he tried harder than ever to 

 get her to inspect the nest, but without 

 success. She was obdurate, and, after 

 sitting quiet until he was through his 

 demonstrations and chatter, she flew 

 away over the fields, uttering a loud cry 

 as she left him sticking to the side of the 

 tree. He sat still a few moments, seem- 

 ingly in a brown study, then he began 

 hopping about the trunk of the tree, 

 where in a short time he had selected 

 a place and gone to work with a will in 

 making a new nest, that was completed 

 in a little more than eight days. Very 

 little was seen of the female during the 

 completion of the new home. She was 

 in the yard a few times, but never near 

 the tree where the male was at work. 



He had made no mistake this time, the 

 entrance was round and clean cut as an 

 augur hole. When the madam was es- 

 corted to the new nest there was no hesi- 

 tation about inspecting it ; she entered at 

 once. Coming out a moment later, she 

 made it known that the nest was satis- 

 factory. Then the old man was jubilant, 

 expressing it by voice and action. From 



