jSrORTHERlvr DOWNY WOODPECKER 61 



Thus the day's work goes on, until the downy, replete with the 

 results of its industry, rests motionless for a while on a high, sunny 

 branch, taking its ease. 



The downy woodpecker, like most of its family, has an undulating 

 flight when flying any considerable distance. The undulations are 

 not deep, as in the plunging flight of a goldfinch ; it gives rather the 

 effect of a ship pitching slightly in a head sea. A few strokes carry 

 the bird up to the crest of the wave — the wings clapping close to the 

 sides of the body — then, at the crest, with the wings shut, the bird 

 tilts slightly forward, and slides down into the next trough. 



Besides employing its strong beak and the powerful muscles of its 

 neck to secure food and dig out a cavity for its nest, the downy wood- 

 pecker makes use of them to beat a loud tattoo on the branch of a 

 tree or some other resonant object. This habit is oftenest noticed in 

 spring, when it appears to form a part of courtship or a prelude to 

 it, but Lewis O. Shelley says in his notes that "on February 3, 1934, a 

 male downy commenced its drumming on a dead elm branch near the 

 house. A few hours earlier the temperature had been 5° below zero. 

 On the 6th, 8th, and 9th he was tattooing at the usual hour, about 8 

 a. m. On the 8th the temperature registered zero, and on the 9th 

 18° below zero !" 



Dr. Charles W. Townsend, in his Ipswich manuscript notes, under 

 date of March 16, 1930, speaks of "a male bird hammering a rat-at-at- 

 too on the apex of a telephone pole for three seconds. He then 

 paused, hunching up a little and looking about for from five to twelve 

 seconds, before resuming the hammering. He made a small round 

 dent in the pole, but there were no chips." 



A. Dawes DuBois tells in his notes the following anecdote: "One 

 April day I watched this avian drummer as he entertained himself by 

 beating on the wooden insulator-pins of an unused cross-arm on a 

 telegraph pole. From each pin he rang out a different tone — loud, 

 clear, and high-pitched. It was evident that this pleased him, for 

 he hopped from one pin to another to repeat the variations." 



I have found in the books no mention of drumming by the female 

 downy, but at the end of the extract from William Brewster's notes, 

 quoted under "Courtship," in which he describes a mutual display by 

 a pair of birds, he adds : "Both sexes drum, also." 



William Brewster (1876b) points out the difference between the 

 tattoo of the downy woodpecker and that of the hairy woodpecker 

 and the yellow-bellied sapsucker. He says : "P. puhescens has a long 

 unbroken roll, P. villosus a shorter and louder one with a gi-eater 

 interval between each stroke : while S. varius commencing with a short 

 roll ends very emphatically with five or six distinct disconnected taps." 



