■296 Wisconsin State Horticultural Society. 



the work ia the same manner as the woodpecker's tongue. On the 

 other hand, it will readily be seen to be wholly unfitted for the ex- 

 traction of sap or fluids. A quotation from the remarks of Mr. 

 Wilson, the celebrated ornithologist, will not only help to correct 

 the wrong impression which many entertain in relation to these 

 birds, but will give some idea of the benefit derived from their 

 work: l 'Of all our woodpeckers, none rid the apple tree of so 

 many vermin as the Downy woodpecker, digging off the moss 

 which the negligence of the proprietor had suffered to accumulate, 

 and probing every crevice. In fact, the orchard is his favorite re- 

 sort in all seasons, and his industry is unequaled and almosc inces- 

 sant. In the fall he is particularly fond of boring the apple trees 

 for insects, digging a circular hole through the bark, just sufficient 

 to admit his bill; after that, a second, third, and so on, in pretty 

 regular, horizontal circles around the body of the tree. From 

 nearly the surface of the ground up to the first fork, and some- 

 times far beyond it, the whole bark of many apple trees is perfo- 

 rated in this way, so as to appear as if made by discharges of buck 

 shot, and our little woodpecker is the principal perpetrator of this 

 supposed mischief. I say supposed, for, so far from these perfora- 

 tion of the bark being ruinous, they are not only harmless, but I 

 have good reason to believe, really beneficial to the health and fer- 

 tility of the tree. In more than fifty orchards, which I have my- 

 self carefully examined, those trees which were marked by the 

 woodpecker (for some trees they never touch, perhaps because not 

 penetrated by insects) were uniformly the most thrifty, and seem- 

 ingly the most productive. Many of these were upwards of sixty 

 years old, their trunks completely covered with holes, while their 

 branches were broad, luxuriant, and loaded with fruit. The most 

 common opinion is, that they bore the tree to suck the sap, and so 

 destroy its vegetation, though pine and other resinous trees, on the 

 juices of which it is not pretended that they feed, are often found 

 equally perforated. Besides, the early part of spring is the season 

 when the sap flows most abundantly, whereas it is only during the 

 months of September, October and November that woodpeckers 

 are seen so indefatigably engaged in orchards, penetrating every 

 crack or crevice, boring through the bark; and what is worth re- 

 marking, chiefly on the south and southwest sides of the trees, for 

 the eggs and larva* deposited there by the countless swarms of sum- 



