154 Ways of Wood Folk. 



the very heart of the woods, where the bird gUdes in 

 and out, silent as a crow in nesting time. His feeding 

 place meanwhile may be an old pasture half a mile 

 away, where he calls loudly, and frolics about as if he 

 had never a care or a fear in the world. But the nest 

 is now more frequently in a wild orchard, where the 

 bird finds an old knot-hole and digs down through 

 the soft wood, making a deep nest with very little 

 trouble. When the knot-hole is not well situated, 

 he finds a large decayed limb and drills through the 

 outer hard shell, then digs down a foot or more 

 through the soft wood, and makes a nest. In this 

 nest the rain never troubles him, for he very provi- 

 dently drills the entrance on the under side of the 

 limb. 



Like many other birds, he has discovered that the 

 farmer is his friend. Occasionally, therefore, he neg- 

 lects to build a deep nest, simply hollowing out an 

 old knot-hole, and depending on the presence of man 

 for protection from hawks and owls. At such times 

 the bird very soon learns to recognize those who 

 belong in the orchard, and loses the extreme shyness 

 that characterizes him at all other times. 



Once a farmer, knowing my interest in birds, invited 

 me to come and see a golden-winged woodpecker, 

 which in her confidence had built so shallow a nest 

 that she could be seen sitting on the esss like a robin. 



