l6o NATURE STUDY. 
black-bordered white across the body and spread wings, 
almost from tip to tip. The wings naturally seem long, 
compared with the short woodpecker tail, and this striking 
white patch greatly heightens the effect, making the bird 
seem much larger than he really is. 
The young birds did not move about much, and for a 
long time we watched them as the old ones came and went, 
with food or in quest of it; the young waiting quietly while 
their parents were out of sight and calling clamorously 
the moment they reappeared. 
It was very funny to see an old bird light near one 
of the young ones with a dainty tid-bit in its bill, and hold 
it there provokingly while the baby teased and cried for it. 
Several times I saw one of the babies try to snatch some¬ 
thing greedily, only to have its parent hop quickly back¬ 
ward or onto another limb, evidently admonishing its off¬ 
spring to be more polite and patient. At last it would 
give up the morsel and fly away in search of another. 
Generally I could not tell what kind of food was brought, 
but one time I saw distinctly, with my opera glass, a ripe, 
red raspbenyq like a red knob at the end of the strong, 
dark bill. 
When, a few days later, I revisited the spot, two of the 
young birds were still there. They were quite as willing 
as ever to be waited upon by their parents, but the old 
birds were beginning to leave them more or less to their 
own resources, and did not come to them nearly so often 
as before, frequently returning without lood, even then. 
One of the young birds seemed much less lively and capa¬ 
ble than the other, and I thought he might be really fee¬ 
ble, until he suddenly spread his wings and flew quite a 
long distance. Then I decided that he had been “play¬ 
ing possum,” or was merely full and sleepy. One of the 
young birds spent considerable time on a telegraph pole 
near by, tapping it in true woodpecker fashion. That 
