"When the bough breaks the cradle will fall,
and down will come baby, cradle and all."
Such a cavity makes a snug, warm home, and when the entrance is on the
under side if the limb, as is usual, the wind and snow cannot reach the
occupant. Late in December, while crossing a high, wooded mountain,
lured by the music of fox-hounds, I discovered fresh yellow chips
strewing the new-fallen snow, and at once thought of my woodpeckers.
On looking around I saw where one had been at work excavating a lodge
in a small yellow birch. The orifice was about fifteen feet from the
ground, and appeared as round as if struck with a compass. It was on
the east side of the tree, so as to avoid the prevailing west and
northeast winds. As it was nearly two inches in diameter, it could not
have been the work of the downy, but must have been that of the hairy,
or else the yellow-bellied woodpecker. His home had probably been
wrecked by some violent wind, and he was thus providing himself
another. In digging out these retreats the woodpeckers prefer a dry,
brittle, trunk, not too soft.
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