WOODPECKERS 127 



Woodpeckers have no gift of song, but in- 

 stead, in the mating season, as a love call, they 

 beat a lively tattoo upon some dead limb. All 

 the family, however, do have shrill call notes 

 characteristic of the various species. 



This is a very large family distributed generally 

 throughout the earth. There are about twenty- 

 five varieties in the United States, eight of 

 which are common in the East. All have similar 

 nesting habits, building in a hole of their own 

 excavation in dead tree or stub, a loose nest. 

 The eggs are uniformly white. 



Hairy Woodpecker. This very active friend 

 of the farmer is more often found in wooded 

 sections where there are plenty of dead and de- 

 caying trees which invite the exercise of his 

 trade. In cold weather they are frequently seen 

 about the orchard and trees of the lawn, where 

 they render valuable service in the destruction 

 of eggs and larvae of injurious insects. 



If you watch him at work on the trunk of a 

 dead tree, you will see him scramble up, then stop 

 to listen for sound of borer, and, when he has 

 located one, begin with zest and skill to cut it out. 

 His head rises and falls with rapidity and regular- 

 ity, the effect of his labors plainly seen by the fly- 

 ing chips and bark. When the grub is uncovered, 

 out darts the sharp tongue to impale it, and it 

 is swallowed with a sharp *' c/^z/r," his cry of 

 satisfaction with the palatable morsel. 



This Woodpecker is about the size of the 

 Robin, ten inches in length. The black and white 

 feathers of the back are fine, almost hairlike in 

 appearance; hence the name Hairy. The wings 



