32 OUR SOUTHERN BIRDS 



softened with wool picked up in tufts where a 

 flock of sheep have rambled through the bushes. 

 Every season before the two to seven greenish 

 eggs are laid, this nest is made softer and deeper 

 by the addition of new material. 



DOWNY WOODPECKER 



Smallest of all our feathered carpenters is 

 Downy, and clothed in the true Woodpecker uni- 

 form of black and white, with a scarlet spot on 



the crown of the male. 

 He is quite tame; one 

 often finds him chisel- 

 ing away with his little 

 pickaxe on trees but a 

 few feet from the door ; 

 and he is a frequent 

 downy woodpecker guest at the feeding 



Length 6 inches ^^ ^^ g() many 



people are now keeping up for our winter birds. 

 In summer the Downy Woodpecker is often- 

 est seen in the cornfield. I was visiting one sum- 

 mer at a farmhouse where the corn grew right 

 up to the doors, when the owner interrupted our 

 talk to get his gun, saying he must shoot that 

 bird that was riddling his crop. Quickly I 

 handed him my opera-glass instead, telling him 

 to watch the bird a moment. As he did so his 

 features changed with surprise. Lowering the 



