WESTERN BIRDS Woodpecker 



and the chin are black, bordered by a band of white, 

 or yellowish, which form a square patch on the forehead; 

 top of head scarlet; sides of head, surrounding the white 

 eye, black, as are the back, wings and tail; white wing 

 patches show in flight; under parts are white save for a 

 black chest band which extends down the breast in 

 uneven streakings, and along the sides. The female 

 differs in having the white forehead patch separated 

 from the red crown by a narrow black band. The young 

 have two, or more, white bars on the outer tail feathers. 

 As the birds perch above one the tail seems to be deeply 

 forked, but when on the wing, it opens up into a fan- 

 shape with each feather pointed. In length they are 

 from eight and one-half to nine and one-half inches. 



Of all our western Woodpeckers these are undoubtedly 

 the most jovial and sociable, for although they are espe- 

 cially fond of all oak regions, because of their love for 

 acorns, they also come into thickly settled neighborhoods 

 to raise their families, and winter or summer their loud 

 Jd-cob, jd-cob, ja-cob, call is a familiar and welcome 

 sound. They are gregarious birds, nesting near each 

 other and storing their acorns in the same tree. This 

 tree-storing habit of these birds is extremely novel and 

 interesting and has given them the Spanish name, car- 

 pintero, or carpenter. Carpenter-birds they, indeed, are. 

 Selecting a decaying tree not too far from oaks, they 

 bore holes in its trunk and limbs and then fill the holes 

 with acorns which fit perfectly. Marvelous, indeed, is 

 it that the bird without measure of any kind can first 

 hollow out his hole and have the acorn fit it so tightly 

 that it is hard work for a human being to dig it out. 



The trees in my neighborhood are mostly live-oaks 

 having long pointed acorns. These the birds hold in 

 their bills by the large end and alighting below a hole 

 they insert the acorn and pound it in. Not always are 

 they satisfied with their first choice of holes. Often 



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