long and strong bills for making holes 

 in the bark. Let me tell you something 

 about the different members of this 

 family. 



The Red-headed Woodpeckers are not 

 quite so large as the robin. They are 

 black and white above, and white be- 

 neath. Not only their heads but their 

 necks and throats are red. They cannot 

 sing us a sweet song like the robin, but 

 they have a noisy cry which sounds like 

 the call of the tree toad, only it is much 

 louder. 



They select a partly decayed tree in 

 which to make their nests. You know the 

 digging is easier in a decayed tree. Both 

 papa and mamma Woodpecker work at 

 the nest. One rests while the other 

 works. They hollow out a tunnel, then, 

 on the chips and sawdust in the bottom 

 of this tunnel Mrs. Woodpecker lays 

 her white eggs. 



The Red-headed Woodpecker stores 

 away nuts in the knot-holes of trees 

 or in cracks in the fence-rails ; in fact, in 

 any place where it can find a good store- 

 house. As it sometimes stays all through 

 the cold winter, I presume it thinks that 

 it will need this food. 



The Hairy Woodpecker is about the 

 size of a robin. Instead of having a red 

 breast, it has only a red band on the neck. 

 It is fond of the forests. In the fall it 

 begins to make its winter home. First, 

 it makes a round hole under the branch 

 of a tree. Then it digs a horizontal tun- 

 nel to the very center of the tree, • and 

 then, turning downward, it hollows out 

 a little room where neither snow nor 

 wind can reach him. Here it spends the 

 winter as warm and cosy as can be. But 

 I am sorry to say that this Woodpecker 

 is selfish, for he lets Mrs. Woodpecker 

 take any hole that she can find. But 

 when summer comes he is as attentive 

 and kind as a bird can be. 



The Hairy Woodpecker, like the 

 Red-headed, cannot sing, but it likes to 

 tap or drum on the trees. 



The Yellow-bellied Woodpecker, or 

 Sapsucker, is smaller than either the 

 Red-headed ,or Hairy. It has a red 

 crown and a red throat. It is black and 

 yellowish-white above and pale yellow 

 beneath. There is a black spot on the 

 breast in the shape of a crescent or half 

 moon. 



This is one of the prettiest of the 

 Woodpecker family, but it is not a useful 

 bird, for it drinks the sap of the trees. 

 It selects a young and strong tree, and 

 after making a hole in the bark, will 

 drink its sap until it has injured or killed 

 the tree. Sometimes it strips the outer 

 bark from a tree and pecks at the soft 

 wood underneath, so you see that it does 

 a great deal of harm. 



These birds dig far into the trees when 

 making their nests, often as deep as 

 eighteen or twenty inches. 



The Downy Woodpecker is the small- 

 est member of this family. It is about 

 the size of an English sparrow. It is 

 black and white above and white under- 

 neath, and has a red spot on its head. 

 It is sometimes called a sapsucker, but 

 that is not a true name, for it bores holes 

 into the tree only to feed upon the soft 

 inner bark. Sometimes it makes these 

 holes so closely together around the tree 

 as to injure it, but not often. 



The Flicker is the largest and hand- 

 somest member of the Woodpecker fam- 

 ily. It is golden-brown striped, with 

 black above. Its breast is light brown, 

 spotted with black. There is a red spot 

 on its head. Its wings and tail are lined 

 with yellow. On its breast is a black spot 

 shaped like a crescent. 



Unlike the other Woodpeckers, it can 

 sing, and will often feed on the ground. 



The Flickers hollow out three or four 

 holes for their nests in trees or in build- 

 ings. I do not know why they go to so 

 much trouble, for one nest seems enough 

 for any bird. 



Narcissa Lewis. 



181 



