274 
OUR HOME BIRDS. 
in g the passers-by with their gambols. Their note 
or cry is shrill and lively, and so much resembles 
that of a species of tree-frog which frequents the 
same tree that it is often difficult to tell one from 
the other. 
“ The downy woodpecker is the smallest of the 
family, being only six inches and three-quarters 
long. He takes his name from his loose, downy 
feathers, which are black on the back, divided by 
a strip of white ; the wings are black, spotted with 
white ; and these two colors prevail all over him, 
relieved by a strip of deep scarlet on the back of his 
head. 
“ This little woodpecker is the friend and asso- 
ciate of the brown creeper and titmouse, but he is 
not on such good terms with the house wren, who 
takes an inconvenient fancy to his nest. When 
Downy and his wife have spent a week or so in bor- 
ing a nice hole for their nursery, this wren, who also 
builds in the hollow of a tree, but who has neither 
the necessary tools nor the strength to dig out such 
an apartment for herself, attacks them with violence, 
and generally succeeds in driving them off. 
“ Some one saw a pair of these woodpeckers, after 
beginning in a cherry tree within a few yards of the 
house, and making considerable progress, turned out 
by a wren. ‘ The former began again on a pear tree 
