136 HAIRY WOODPECKER 



The Hairy is one of tlie two commonest black 

 and white Woodi3eckers. It is usually shy and 

 not often seen about houses. In the nesting- 

 season the birds are nois}^, the male spending his 

 leisure time drumming on a resonant dead limb, 

 being, as Doctor Fisher w^ell puts it, a maker of 

 instrumental music. When playing his piano, 

 " the louder the noise produced, the more satisfac- 

 tory it appears to be to the performer," we are 

 assured by Major Bendire. As the best of us 

 can speak only in the tongue we know, the Wood- 

 peckers announce their love on the drum. If the 

 tattoo falls softly on the ear of the lady, the 

 happy Woodpecker pair set about looking for a 

 home. They choose their tree with such good 

 judgment, Major Bendire tells us, that hard knots 

 are rarely encountered in their excavations. He 

 says that both birds work on the nest, and it 

 takes them about a week to prepare it. " The 

 entrance-hole is as round as if made wdth an 

 augur." Both birds incubate, and when the 

 young appear feed them by regurgitation, the 

 conventional method it seems with Woodpeckers 

 when their young first hatch, though the Red- 

 heads and a few others feed by the bill as the 

 brood grow up. The Major thinks that the Hairy 

 Woodpeckers remain mated through life. 



In regard to their food he says : " The Hairy 

 Wood])ecker, like most of its relatives, is an 

 exceedingly beneficial and useful bird, which rids 



