18 The Bulletin. 



ber of insects and tree vermin. The Downy is fond of the society of 

 other small birds, and after the summer household duties are finished 

 may frequently be seen in company with nuthatches and chickadees. 

 Often these merry parties are joined by flocks of bright-colored 

 warblers during their fall migration, and for days such avian bodies 

 may be seen associated pleasantly. This bird usually excavates a 

 hole in some dead limb as the cold weather approaches, to be used 

 as a roosting place in winter. 



The relation of the Downy Woodpecker to the orchard has been 

 made a subject of careful study by a number of naturalists. One of 

 the interesting observations made is that it pierces great numbers 

 of cocoons of the codling moth, which are usually concealed under 

 flakes of bark and thus escape the observation of many other birds. It 

 destroys the wood-boring beetles and their larvse in great quantities, 

 and possesses the wonderful faculty of being able to locate with great 

 accuracy the exact spot at which to dig with the least labor to secure 

 its prey. It also eats many bark beetles and weevils and is a large con- 

 sumer of the round-headed apple borer which infest fruit trees. 



It is a well-known fact that a favorite place for the wooly aphis 

 is at the scars made by pruning. Here they are often found in 

 clusters, and some entomologists are of the opinion that their presence 

 greatly retards if it does not even prevent the speedy healing over 

 of these wounds. The Downy greatly enjoys the flavor of the ^ wooly 

 aphis. 



This woodpecker at times has the habit of making large numbers 

 of holes in the bark of apple trees. These are generally not over an 

 inch apart and are arranged in parallel rows around the tree. The 

 holes are round, which distinguish them from the holes made by the 

 real Sapsucker, which will be discussed later. As this work is done 

 in the autumn when the sap is not running, it is evidently not that 

 fluid which the bird is seeking. If this is not done to secure the 

 insects, but to obtain some portion of the tree, it is evidently the 

 cambian layer of the bark. The writer has examined scores of fruit 

 trees on which the Downy has thus demonstrated his ability as a 

 chiseler of bark, but has never seen one which died from the at- 

 tacks. In fact, one close observer declares that the trees thus favored 

 with the Downy's attentions seem to be actually invigorated rather 

 than injured. 



The amount of work which this bird is capable of doing in a day 

 is truly wonderful. Mr. Vernon Bailey, of Washington, D. C, once 

 watched a bird of this species as it went about its daily toils. He 

 found that between the hours of 9 :40 A. M. and 12 :15 P. M. it 

 traveled about over one hundred and eighty-one trees and made 

 twenty-six separate excavations for food. 



All persons interested in the preservation of forests must be 

 friends of this bird. It eats the very destructive bronze birch borer, 



