LAND BIRDS. 349 



stomach contents, consisted almost entirely of wild berries and seeds, with 

 a small amount of unidentifiable vegetable matter classed as rubbish. 



The fruits taken were those of uncultivated plants and their consumption 

 caused no loss whatever to the fruit grower. The only item weighing in 

 any manner against the good character of the bird was the presence of 

 seeds of the poison ivy and poison sumac which were found in the stomachs 

 of 21 birds and sometimes in large numbers. These berries are eaten for 

 the nutritious, waxy pulp which surrounds the seed, and the seeds them- 

 selves, which are usually ejected by the mouth, are found to germinate 

 just as well afterwards. It is evident that these noxious plants owe their 

 wide distribution in large part to the birds which feed upon the berries, 

 and evidently the Downy Woodpecker does his part of this work. 



In its consumption of insects the bird is decidedly useful, since it not 

 only eats many of the common pests of the orchard, but it visits plantations 

 of young trees, shrubs and even vines and hunts out injurious insects which 

 might otherwise gain a foothold and cause serious trouble. During the 

 winter it searches persistently for the hidden pupa and cocoons of various 

 insects and has been seen to drill through the silken cocoons of the cecropia 

 moth and devour the pupae within. It is credited also with the destruction 

 of the larvae of the codling-moth which often spend the winter hidden 

 beneath a thin scale of bark or a dry leaf cemented to the tree, and Dr. 

 Trimble's account of his discovery of this fact, in Morris county, N. J., is 

 worth repeating here. He writes "I was gratified in being able to ascertain 

 how he finds where to peck through the scales so as to be sure to hit the 

 appleworm that is so snugly concealed beneath. * * * g^^ what does 

 he do? By sounding, tap, tap, tap, just as the physician learns the con- 

 dition of the lungs of his patient by what he calls percussion. The bird 

 uses his beak generally three times in quick succession — sometimes oftener; 

 then tries another." One stomach was found to contain a codling-moth 

 larva and some beetles; another held one beetle, the heads of two codUng- 

 moth larvae and three small borers (Treatise on the Insect Enemies of 

 Fruit and Fruit Trees, pp. 116-117). 



In its general habits the Downy Woodpecker quite closely resembles its 

 larger relative the Hairy Woodpecker, but, as already seen, it is more 

 likely to frequent the open country, and especially the orchards and trees 

 about houses. In nesting it also selects smaller trees or limbs, and the nest 

 is more often placed low down, often only two or three feet above the ground. 

 The eggs are commonly four or five, occasionally only three or as many as 

 six. They are pure white, unspotted, and average .77 by .58 inches. The 

 period of incubation is about twelve days. It begins nesting several weeks 

 later than the Hairy Woodpecker and eggs are not likely to be found 

 before the middle of May in southern Michigan, although in one instance 

 we found a nest of young in Ingham county May 8 (1897). On the other 

 hand, fresh eggs are frequently found the last week in May and occasionally 

 even in June. It seems probable that only one brood is reared in the season, 

 but birds which lose the first set of eggs are veiy likely to lay again. 

 The hole for the eggs is excavated by the birds themselves, and although 

 the same hole may be used year after year, probably in most cases a new 

 hole is made for each new set of eggs. Frequently single birds are found 

 excavating holes in midwinter, and they resort regularly to these holes to 

 roost throughout the year. 



Of the voice of this bird E. P. Bicknell says: "In addition to its usual 

 short sharp note the Downy Woodpecker has a rattling cry which starts 



