e oak.

"In this nest my mother laid six pure white eggs. She sat on them and
kept them warm until at last six downy birds came out of the shells.

"We were hungry little things. Both our mother and father were kept
busy filling our greedy, ever-open mouths.

"And whatever they brought was sure to be very nice. Sometimes it was
a cherry or a berry, sometimes a bit of pear or apple.

"But, best of all, were the fat, juicy little grubs which they often
brought.

"I asked my father where he got the grubs. He made fun of me and
called out to my mother in his shrill, lively way.

"She said that that was a thing which every young woodpecker should
find out for himself.

"After that, every time a fat grub was brought to me, I wondered if I
should ever be able to find them when I began to shift for myself.

"At last my wings were strong enough and my parents called me out of
the nest. I very soon found that the fat grubs lived beneath the bark
of my own oak-tree. All I had to do was to strike my bill into the
bark and bear off the prize."

"Were you sorry to leave your safe high nest?" asked Phyllis.

"Indeed it was not so safe," said the young woodpecker. "On the day
that I left the nest a great black snake crept in. He swallowed my
little brothers and sisters.

"My parents were wild with grief. They said that was the thing they
always dreaded, that such things often happened in woodpeckers' nests."

"How sad!" said Phyllis. "I should never have thought of snakes!"

"They are our greatest danger," was the reply. "Squirrels sometimes
come in and steal the nuts and corn we have stored away, but the snake
is the most to be feared."

"So you store away food?" Phyllis asked. "Do you stay here in the
winter, then?"

"Oh, yes, we often stay all winter. Have you not seen us flying about
among the trees in the winter-time?"

By this time the bird sat on the window-sill.

"Must you go?" asked Phyllis. "Here is a strawberry for you."

"Thanks," said the bird, pecking away at the fruit. "I am just off to
the corn-field. My father showed me this morning how to open the husks
of the green corn to get at the rich, milky kernels inside."

"When you get your red cap, come back," cried Phyllis, and the young
woodpecker's lively cry answered from the corn-field.

A LEGEND OF THE NORTHLAND[1]

Away, away in the Northland,
Where the hours of the day are few,
And the nights are so long in win