Cambridge,Mass.
1910
Feb.14 [February 14, 1910]
(No 3)
at it for half a minute or so, alternately pecking
and prying with his bill, and then rest for a somewhat
longer period before beginning again. I watched him
for ten or fifteen minutes. More than once I thought I
saw him swallow a small fragment of the hard mortar
- it is years since the chimney was re-pointed - but of
this I could not be sure. That he had already
done considerable damage was evident enough for
with the aid of my glass I could see that the
lines of "pointing" were broken in many places
by the recent removal of more or less mortar.
He must have been working at the mortor capping
on the top of the chimney when he sent the
fragments down into my fireplace but that I did 
not see. Verily "the devil finds work for idle 
hands [and bills] to do."
Flicker
pecking &
prying off
mortar from
Museum
chimney