158 



BIRDS OF AMERICA 



cavities with comparatively small openings will 

 get long grasses and feathers for their nest 

 through the opening by the, to us, obvious ex- 

 pedient of pushing or pulling them through 

 lengthwise. The significance of all this is not 

 that the Woodpecker and the Wren are natur- 

 ally wiser or more intelligent than the dog or the 

 mouse, but that the birds are performing an act 

 learned by ages of experience, and now virtually 

 instinctive, whereas the mouse and the dog fail 

 because the problem which confronts them is 

 essentially a new one, and too deep for their 

 natural wit to solve. 



Another puzzling aspect of this practice of the 

 Ant-eating Woodpecker is the apparent lack of 

 any sufficient reason for it. It has been sug- 

 gested that the habit was born of necessity, that 

 necessity arising from the fact that the habitat 

 of the bird is also the habitat of multitudes of 

 ground squirrels, who devour so many acorns 

 that there are not enough left for the Wood- 

 peckers, wherefore they lay away supplies out of 

 reach of the squirrels. But it may fairly be 

 doubted, as a matter of fact, whether the num- 

 bers and appetite of the squirrels are together 

 sufficient to threaten any such famine. 



Another explanation is that the Woodpeckers 

 store the acorns not because they expect to eat 

 them, but because they know that in time the 

 nuts will rot and in that condition attract insects 

 upon which they may feed. This solution, how- 

 ever, sounds more like the product of a fertile 

 and active imagination than the result of respon- 

 sible observation and clear-headed reasoning. 

 What can Woodpeckers know about the laws 

 and consequences of decay in the vegetable 

 world? And how does it happen that this par- 

 ticular species, living in a land of unfailing 

 plenty of all kinds of bird food, should have 

 acquired this special knowledge, while their rela- 

 tives who inhabit regions where food is actually 

 scarce and hard to get show no such wisdom or 

 foresight ? 



Whatever may be the cause and purpose of this- 

 storing habit, it results in much quarreling be- 

 tween the Woodpeckers and the squirrels. Jays,, 

 and other thieves in fur or feathers who steal 

 the cached acorns. And even man has been 

 known to put himself in the same category with 

 the pilferers, by replenishing the feed supply for 

 his horses from the Woodpecker's stores. From 

 all this it must not be inferred that these birds 

 subsist entirely on acorns, for insects form a con- 

 siderable part of their diet, and many of these 

 they take on the wing after the manner of the 

 Red-headed species of the central States. 



In flight this Woodpecker may readily be 

 identified by the white patches on its wings and 

 rump. The characteristic call suggests the syl- 

 lables ja-cob, reiterated as the birds fly from 

 tree to tree, and is soft and musical in its 

 quality. 



The food of the Ant-eating and California 

 Woodpeckers is not of much economic impor- 

 tance. They cannot be charged with destroying 

 useful insects or many products of husbandry. 

 \Miile they eat considerable fruit, especially al- 

 monds, in fact twice as much as the Linnet, they 

 do not habitually infest orchards, and in most 

 localities are not numerous enough to be a 

 serious nuisance. The few insects which they 

 take are nearly all of harmful species, while the 

 acorns which make up the bulk of their diet may 

 be considered of little value. The trees used for 

 storehouses are usually either dead or partly so, 

 and when alive are little harmed by the punc- 

 tures, which do not usually go through the bark. 

 When, however, holes are made in buildings, tele- 

 graph or telephone poles, or fences, they are a 

 real injury, and it is fortunate that such cases 

 are local and exceptional. From the esthetic 

 point of view, however, a strong plea for their 

 protection may be made. It is an interesting and 

 picturesque species, and where they do not make 

 themselves conspicuous by reason of the damage 

 thev do thev mav well be allowed to live. 



LEWIS'S WOODPECKER 



Asyndesmus lewisi Riley 



A. O. U. Number 40.S 



Black Woodpecker ; 



Other Names.- 



pecker. 



General Description. — Length, 10V2 inches, 

 parts, greenish-black; under parts, gray and red. 



Color. — Forehead, lores, around eyes, front half of 



Crow Wood- 

 Upper 



sides of head, cheeks, chin, and upper throat, dark 

 crimson; rest of head (except lower throat), nape, 

 and upper parts generally, together with rear flanks and 

 under tail-coverts, plain glossy greenish black, the back 

 and shoulders, more bronzy ; lower throat, dull black. 



