204 
EARLY WINTER 
The cold quiet of the suburban woods intensifies 
the charms of solitude* The life that shrank timidly 
away from strollers and revellers in summer comes 
forth with confiding indifference* The lone invader 
is treated as a friend, no more dangerous than the 
distorted roots that afford a comfortable resting-place* 
In such silence the mild tapping of a Downy Wood- 
pecker is a distinct and insistent disturbance* This 
little fellow in boldly mottled black and white is one 
of the most friendly perennial residents* He flits from 
tree to tree, ignoring visitors, clinging to the bark 
and using his tail for a support, chipping off the bored 
and tunneled covering and reaching his long, barbed 
tongue after the hiding grubs and beetles* When 
near, the scarlet crescent on his head shows quite 
distinctly. It is an ornament which his mate does not 
wear. Like most devotees to excessive activity, he 
lacks thoroughness* A few taps here and there, a 
cursory inspection while hurriedly hopping for a few 
feet on the bark, and a tree is abandoned for another 
adjacent. Thus as each tree furnishes its morsel 
the quest goes on, never relieved by the discovery of 
food in easy abundance. The Chickadee is another 
