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.