WHERE BIRDS ROOST. 1 23 



or dead branches lying on the ground, for roost- 

 ing-places. 



A discovery was also made in regard to the 

 sleeping-apartments of the red-headed woodpecker. 

 As the dusk was gathering, a red- head dashed in front 

 of me into the border of the woods, alighting on 

 a sapling stem, and then began to shuffle upward 

 toward a hole plainly visible from where I sat ; but 

 just as he reached the hole, another red-head 

 appeared with a challenging air on the inside of 

 the cavity, and red-head number one darted away 

 with a cry of alarm. Now was my time to discover, 

 if possible, where red-head number two would roost. 

 So I kept a close watch on the cavity, waiting about, 

 as previously said, until nightfall, and then, keeping 

 my eye on the hole, so that the bird could not fly 

 out without being seen, I made my way to the sap- 

 ling. Intently watching the hole with my glass, I 

 tapped the stem of the tree with my heel, when, in 

 the moonlight, a red head and long, black beak 

 were protruded from the opening above. The wood- 

 pecker was within, that much was proved ; and when 

 I had beaten against the tree, he had sprung up to 

 the orifice to see who was thus impolitely disturbing 

 his evening slumbers. He turned his head sidewise, 

 and looked down at me with his keen beady eyes ; 

 but although I tapped against the tree again and 

 again, he would not leave the cavity. There can be 

 no doubt that it was his bedroom, — that cosey apart- 

 ment in the sapling, — for it was still too early in 

 the season for the bird to begin nesting, as he had 



