62 BULLETIN 17 4, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



E. Owen Merriam (1920) gives, from Hamilton, Canada, an instance 

 of "snow bathing." He says : 



This morning a female Downy Woodpeclier that I was watching flew to a 

 horizontal branch and proceeded vigorously to bathe in the loose snow lying 

 there. Like a Robin in a puddle, Mrs. Downy ducked her head, ruffled her 

 feathers, and fluttered her wings, throwing some of the snow over her back and 

 scattering the rest to the winds. As all the snow fell off one part of the branch, 

 she moved along to another, until she had cleared a place about two feet long. 

 Two forks held more snow than the straight limb, and apparently Mrs. Downy 

 enjoyed herself immensely when she came to them. 



Dr. Arthur A. Allen (1928) in his admirable "Downy Woodpecker's 

 Story," published in the School Department of Bird-Lore, says, let- 

 ting the bird tell its own story : "When cold weather sets in, * * * 

 I begin drilling roosting-holes where I can spend the nights. I usu- 

 ally have to drill quite a number for they seem to be quite popular 

 with other birds like the Chickadees and Nuthatches, and sometimes 

 when I get ready to retire I find my hole occupied by a flying squirrel 

 or a whole family of deer mice, and it is easier to drill a new hole than 

 to drive them out. One winter I got tired of drilling holes and every 

 night retired to a bird-house and perched on an old Wren's nest that 

 was in it." 



Many ornithologists, even as long ago as the time of Wilson and 

 Nuttall, have believed that the rows of small holes, such as we com- 

 monly see in the bark of our orchard trees, are drilled by the downy 

 woodpecker. These little holes, about three-eighths of an inch across, 

 circular when old, but oval when fresh, are arranged in fairly regular 

 rows parallel to the ground, and sometimes in tiers, when they have 

 the appearance of a waffle. In settled regions they are found oftenest 

 in the trunks and the larger branches of trees belonging to the rose 

 family — most commonly of all in apple trees. The holes may be 

 within 3 feet of the ground or as high as 20 feet or more above it, 

 depending on the height of the tree. Oftentimes they are very close 

 together; I have counted as many as six of them in the space of an 

 inch and a half. The question has arisen whether the downy wood- 

 pecker ever makes these holes. 



We know now, what the older ornithologists did not know, that it 

 is a regular habit of the yellow-bellied sapsucker to drill such holes, 

 but there are plenty of statements in the ornithological literature 

 today ascribing the work to the downy woodpecker as well. 



Dr. Charles W. Townsend (1932) gives an able summary of the 

 literature on this question and, after carefully weighing the evidence, 

 comes "to the conclusion that these well known and characteristic 

 circles of holes are made by true sapsuckers and not by downy or 

 hairy woodpeckers." 



