194 Birds Every Child Should Know 
clinging by his stout toes, the woodpecker keeps 
hammering and chiselling at his home more 
hours every day than a labour union would 
allow. Two inches of digging with his strong 
combination tool means a hard day’s work. 
The hole usually runs straight in for a few inches, 
then curves downward into a pear-shaped 
chamber large enough for a comfortable nursery. 
A week or ten days may be spent by a couple in 
making it. The chips by which this good work- 
man is known are left on the nursery floor, for 
woodpeckers do not pamper their babies with 
fine grasses, feathers or fur cradle linings, as 
the chickadee and some other birds do. A 
well-regulated woodpecker’s nest contains five 
glossy-white eggs. 
Sheltered from the rain, wind and sun, hidden 
from almost every enemy except the red 
squirrel, woodpecker babies lie secure in their 
dark, warm nursery, with no excitement ex- 
cept the visits of their parents with a fat grub. 
Then how quickly they scramble up the walls 
toward the light and dinner! 
YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER 
This woodpecker I am sorry to introduce to 
you as the black sheep of his family, with 
scarcely a friend to speak a good word for him. 
