BIRDS OF MASSACHUSETTS. 337 



decaying tree. Sometimes on these occasions, they have sharp 

 conflicts with the Little Owl, in which they generally prevail 

 by perseverance and force of numbers. 



This woodpecker bores its hole in a sound tree, the male 

 and female laboring alternately ; and such is the power of their 

 bills, that an excavation is sometimes made to the depth of 

 two feet, at the end of which is the nest. The entrance is 

 just large enough to admit the bird, but it grows larger, and 

 becomes quite spacious at the farther end. The eggs, from 

 four to six in number, and white with a slight blush, are laid 

 on the fragments of wood. The young remain in the hole till 

 they are fully fledged. 



The Hairy Woodpecker, Picus villosus, is a pretty bird, 

 which comes so familiarly near our houses, that every one has 

 seen it, intent upon its labor, searching for grubs and insects, 

 not only in trees, but in posts, rails, and all kinds of decaying 

 wood. Its call is a shrill whistle, and it makes a complaining 

 sound as it explores the bark of the trees. It is either very 

 tame, or so absorbed in its employment as not to regard the 

 presence of an observer. It builds in the branch of a tree ; 

 sometimes taking one which is already hollow, sometimes 

 scooping out an opening, which it does by beating off frag- 

 ments with its bill, and scraping them out with its feet. The 

 eggs, like those of others of the race, are white. The female 

 is known by its wanting the red cockade on the back of the 

 head. 



The Downy Woodpecker, Picus pubescens, a small and 

 very common species, is almost exactly like the former in every 

 thing but size. It is often called the sap-sucker, from its prac- 

 tice of making perforations in circles on the bark of trees. The 

 popular notion was that this is done in order to extract the 

 juices of the tree ; but it is now well understood that the bird 

 is in search of insects, and that, so far from injuring the tree, 

 its proceeding is highly beneficial. It is amusing to observe 

 43 





