202 IN BIRD LAND. 



countenances proper reveal very little of the emo- 

 tion swelling in their breasts. 



Yet by the movements of their bodies you can 

 easily read their feelings. You can tell at a glance 

 by the conduct of a bird whether or not it is alarmed 

 at your presence, or whether it is engaged in a frolic 

 or in watching a wily foe. How different is the 

 behavior of most birds in the breeding-season, with 

 a nest near at hand, from their demeanor at other 

 times ! Look at that brown thrasher perched in a 

 tree-top on a spring morning, singing his paean to 

 the surrounding woodland, and notice how fearless 

 he appears. Contrast his manners two months 

 later when he goes skulking through the tanglewood, 

 afraid to be seen. Conceal their secret as they 

 may, an expert student of birds can almost always 

 tell if there is a nest in the neighborhood. 



It is, therefore, by their conduct rather than by 

 their facial expression that birds reveal their love of 

 play. That they do have their frolics, no one can 

 doubt. Much of their time is occupied in labor, 

 and that often of the most serious, if not arduous, 

 kind, and they frequently combine toil and play ; 

 but there are times when they seem to give them- 

 selves up to unmixed sportiveness. There is not 

 much system in their games, so far as I have ob- 

 served. They mostly engage in frolics of a rough- 

 and-tumble kind, for the pure love of the fun, and 

 perhaps with no thought of winning a prize. 



It is possible, however, that the company of red- 

 headed woodpeckers I watched one day in the 



