A BIRDS' FREE LUNCH 



and gives way the instant he approaches. He is 

 a tyrant and a bully. They both pass the night 

 in snug chambers which they have excavated in 

 the decayed branch of an old apple-tree, but not 

 together. 



But in the spring what a change will come over 

 the male. He will protest to the female that he was 

 only in fun, that she took him far too seriously, 

 that he had always cherished a liking for her. Last 

 April I saw a male trying his blandishments upon a 

 female in this way. It may have been the same pair 

 I am now observing. The female was extremely shy 

 and reluctant; evidently she was skeptical of the sin- 

 cerity of so sudden a change on the part of the male. 

 I saw him pursue her from tree to tree with the most 

 flattering attention. The flight of the woodpecker 

 is at all times undulating, but on such occasions 

 this feature is so enhanced and the whole action so 

 affected and studied on the part of the male that 

 the scene becomes highly amusing. The female flew 

 down upon a low stump in the currant-patch and was 

 very busy about her own affairs ; the male followed 

 alighted on something several rods distant, and ap- 

 peared to be equally busy about his affairs. Presently 

 the female made quite a long flight to a tree by the 

 roadside. I could not tell how the male knew she had 

 flown and what course she had taken, as he was hid- 

 den from her amid the thick currant-bushes; but 

 he did know, and soon followed after in his curious 

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