254 UNDER THE OPEN SKY 



to go to another. His toes are built to cling 

 to it, while most birds have feet fashioned 

 to cling to the limbs or to walk on the ground. 

 His tail is made to brace him against the 

 trunk; most birds would hopelessly spoil 

 their tails by such use. He feeds on the 

 insects that infest the bark, and when he 

 wants to woo his downy mate, he uses some 

 dry old dead trunk as a drum arid on it beats 

 what is to her a most fascinating tattoo. 

 Almost any other of our common birds has 

 a foot fashioned so as to allow him to put 

 three toes on the front of his perch and one 

 behind, and after he has settled himself 

 down he can hold tight enough to sleep 

 there. The woodpecker is somewhat awk- 

 ward when he tries to sit across a twig, be- 

 cause he parts his toes in the middle and 

 puts two in front and two behind. But this 

 gives him a grip on the erect portions of the 

 tree that almost no bird not of his family 

 can equal. Then his tail feathers are firm 

 and pointed, and when he has fastened his 

 toes in the bark he spreads his stiff tail, 

 presses the points into the crevices of the 



