As if sufficient
attention were not attracted to it by its plumage, it must needs keep up a
noisy, guttural rattle, ker-r-ruck,
ker-r-ruck, very like a tree-toad's call, and flit about among the trees with
the restlessness of a fly-catcher. Yet, in spite of these invitations for a
shot to the passing gunner, it still multiplies in districts where nuts
abound, being "more common than the robin" about Washington, says John
Burroughs.
All the familiar woodpeckers have two characteristics most prominently
exemplified in this red-headed member of their tribe. The hairy, the downy,
the crested, the red-bellied, the sapsucker, and the flicker have each a red
mark somewhere about their heads as if they had been wounded there and bled a
little -- some more, some less; and the figures of all of them, from much
flattening against tree-trunks, have become high-shouldered and long-waisted.
The red-headed woodpecker selects, by preference, a partly decayed tree in
which to excavate a hole for its nest, because the digging is easier, and the
sawdust and chips make a softer lining than green wood. Both male and female
take turns in this hollowing-out process. The one that is off duty is allowed
twenty minutes for refreshments, "consisting of grubs, beetles, ripe apples or
cherries, corn, or preferably beech-nuts.
Pages:
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76