BIRD ACTORS AND THEATRES 243 



perate jerk pulls at it. It does not budge, but the 

 sharp edges cut his neck almost through, and he 

 falls a victim to his own neat and practical ways! 



Woodpeckers are fond of playing hide-and-seek 

 with each other and with people. This game, how- 

 ever, is not aU sport, but partly for their protec- 

 tion. If one is alarmed, or not just sure who his 

 visitors are, he hops around behind a branch or tree- 

 trunk and peeps out to see who approaches. I have 

 seen at least six to ten red-headed woodpeckers 

 playing hide-and-seek on a dead pine-tree in Texas. 

 They dodged each other, flopped their pretty wings 

 and lay close to the bark, and if seen, flew away to 

 a near-by tree to continue the game. Such games 

 tend to train the actors for self-defence in case of 

 danger. 



The red-heads have a cousin, the downy, who is 

 the best known of aU the woodpeckers. He is a 

 cheery little actor, and the greatest friend of man- 

 kind. He loves company, and his manner of dress 

 is most charming. He wears a coat of black and 

 white on his wings, and a black cap trimmed in red. 

 Of his thirty-six varieties of cousins in America, he 

 is the most industrious, and possibly the most tal- 

 ented. He is capable of running a successful busi- 

 ness besides his work as an actor. This business is 

 that of raising bugs! Yes, he runs a bug factory. 



