bursting with hurry to get
somewhere," answered Dodo very meekly, but not wholly able to resist an
occasional jump.

"I'll show you the way," said Nat. "The little Downy's tree was beside
the footpath on top of the river bank. But the bird has gone!"

The Flicker

Length twelve inches.

Upper parts brown barred with black; the rump snow-white; the head gray
with a scarlet band on the back of it.

Under parts crowded with round black spots; a large black patch on the
breast; throat lilac; the male with a pair of black moustaches, which,
of course, the female does not have.

Under side of wings and tail almost all golden-yellow, even the shafts
of the feathers being of this rich color.

A Citizen of eastern North America, west sometimes to the Pacific Ocean.
Spends the winter in the southern half of his range.

This Woodpecker is not only a beautiful, but a useful, Citizen, doing
almost as much work in the guild of Ground Gleaners as the Meadowlark,
besides being a Tree Trapper and Seed Sower.

CHAPTER XXIV

TWO ODD FELLOWS

"KUK--kuk--kuk! Crcok--c-r-o-c-k--c-r-o-c-k!" cried a harsh voice from
the wood edge.

"Tr-r-r-at-tat-tat!" rattled another bird from over the river bank.

"Those must both be Woodpeckers," said the children; "for both noises
are like hammering."

"Yes," continued Nat, "and I see the one who made the rattle. It is a
Woodpecker with a very big head and bob tail, and sort of gray with
black straps in front. See, uncle! He is on a branch of that dead tree,
right over the river--there, he has fallen off into the water!"

The Doctor smiled as he said: "Here is another case of mistaken
identity--very much like Dodo with her rare Meadowlark! This bird is a
Kingfisher, who did not fall into the water, but dived in after the fish
for which he sat watching."

"So some wood birds eat fish, as well as the Osprey that we saw at the
beach; but how do they chew them, Uncle Roy?"

"They do not chew them. If the fish is not too large, they swallow it
whole, and very funny faces they make sometimes in doing so. If it is
too large, they beat it against a branch and tear it before eating. As
they live on fish, they make their home near water, and only travel
south when the rivers freeze."

"Do they build nests in trees?" asked Dodo.

"No; they burrow tunnels in the earth of river banks, and put their
nests at the end of them, just as the Bank Swallow does; only the
Kingfisher's tunnel