ver backward. He made two long jumps off to one side and
then turned to see what had startled him so. But all he saw was an old
feathered acquaintance headed towards the Old Orchard. He seemed to
bound along through the air much as Peter bounds along over the ground
when he is in a hurry. It was Yellow-Wing the Flicker.

Peter grinned and looked a little foolish. He felt a little foolish. You
know it always makes you feel foolish to be frightened when there is
nothing to be afraid of. Peter watched Yellow-Wing until he disappeared
among the trees of the Old Orchard, from which presently his voice
sounded clear and loud, and in it there was a mocking note as if
Yellow-Wing were laughing at him. Peter suspected that he was. But
Peter was feeling too happy to mind being laughed at. In fact, he
chuckled himself. It was something of a joke to be frightened by one who
was so wholly harmless. Peter recalled how many times he had frightened
other people and thought it the best of jokes.

Peter went on until he found a new patch of sweet clover. Then he forgot
all about Yellow-Wing. He was too busy filling that big stomach of his
to think of anything else. When he couldn't find room for another leaf
of clover he went home to the dear Old Briar-patch, and there in his
favorite spot he settled himself to rest and think or dream as the case
might be. Presently his thoughts returned to Yellow-Wing, and he
chuckled again at the memory of his fright that morning. And then for
the first time it struck Peter as queer that Yellow-Wing should have
been out there on the Green Meadows on the ground. He often had seen
Yellow-Wing on the ground, but until that moment there never had seemed
anything queer about that. Now, however, it suddenly came to Peter that
Yellow-Wing belonged in trees, not on the ground.

Peter scratched his long left ear with his long left hind foot, which
was a sign that he was thinking of something that puzzled him. "He
belongs to the Woodpecker family," thought Peter, "and never have I seen
any of his relatives on the ground. They get all their food in the
trees. Now why is Yellow-Wing so different from his relatives?"

The more Peter thought about it, the queerer it seemed that a Woodpecker
should spend so much time on the ground, or visit the ground at all,
for that matter. But just wondering about it didn't get him anywhere,
and at last Peter decided that the only way to find out would be to ask
questions. So P