A DOUBTFUL QUESTION. 291 



bills, and have admired the adroitness with which 

 they tried it at different holes, until they found 

 one of its exact calibre.' 



I have seen the acorns in the holes, and the 

 birds that are said to put them there, and 

 have no right to doubt the statements of other 

 observers; but it seems strange to me, that I 

 cannot find a single acorn exhibiting any evi- 

 dence of being eaten during the winter. These 

 were stored on the previous fall ; winter has 

 passed away, and yet not a seed has been eaten, 

 as far as I can see. I opened the stomachs of 

 the two birds I shot, but not a trace of vegetable 

 matter was in either of them. Subsequently I 

 killed and examined the stomachs of a great many 

 specimens, but never detected anything save in- 

 sect remains. 



Does this woodpecker ever eat acorns? I think 

 not. More than this, when the insects die, or go 



o 



to sleep during the cold, snowy, biting winter 

 months, the woodpeckers, like all other sensible 

 birds, go southwards, and have no need to store 

 up a winter supply, as do quasi-hybernating 

 mammals. Then it occurred to me, that if they 

 really do take the trouble to bore holes, a work 

 of great time and labour, and into every hole 

 carefully drive a sound acorn that they never 



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