4 
THE BIRD OF MANY NAMES 
Two days later, in passing the flicker tree, 
I saw a little head hanging out of the door- 
way in a perfectly lifeless way, and concluded 
some accident had befallen the nestlings. 
But even as I looked, a second head ap- 
peared beside the first, and the latter at once 
raised itself, and joined, open-mouthed, in a 
clamor for food. Concealed behind some 
bushes, I waited to see the feeding ; and after 
a short time the father alighted a few inches 
below, and at one side of the nest-hole. 
Although they could not see him, they heard 
his arrival, for three little heads were stretched 
out, filling the doorway. He looked at 
them a moment, as if deciding which one 
was the hungriest or most deserving, and 
placed his beak in the open mouth of the 
nearest. The little fellow hung on bravely 
while the old bird shook him up and down, 
much as you have seen women shake pillows 
into cases. This finished, after a moment's 
pause to catch his breath, the father repeated 
the pumping and shaking with the two 
others. Then, in spite of continued hungry 
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