90 Sketches of Some Coinmon Birds. 



they are fi'QQ to make their way according to their own 

 pleasure. 



The red-headed woodpeckers have learned to vary their 

 diet gathered from the bark and cavities of trees by cap- 

 turing flying insects, and also in taking them from the 

 ground. When we have watched their actions along the 

 telegraph poles, we have often seen them fly obliquely up- 

 ward, dexterously capture an insect which had entered 

 their field of vision, and fly back to their station on the 

 side of the pole. Indeed, they are as skillful as the king- 

 birds in this aerial prehension of food, and hence might 

 claim a place with the flycatchers. I have seen them 

 shoot upward almost perpendicularly above the top of the 

 high steeple mentioned, turn abruptly after an attempt, 

 and return to their drumming as indififerently as though 

 their actions were perfectly natural. These sallies into 

 the air, either in the rapid dashes upward or in slightly 

 elevated courses from a horizontal, ending in a beautiful 

 elliptical curve upward to take their prey, are very char- 

 acteristic of these many-sided experts. Frequently they 

 fly directly to the ground from their post of observation, 

 pick up some attractive morsel, and return to their place 

 to swallow it, as we have observed the bluebirds do in 

 their foraging. The red-heads are especially fond of grass- 

 hoppers and large beetles, and in their visits to the 

 ground and in their aerial excursions they are attracted 

 by these larger dainties. The conveniences of civilization 

 have suggested to these enterprising fellows that it is 

 easier to spread their boards from the plenty about them 

 than to pierce the bark and wood for most of their fare. 

 Hence they have added to their strong liking for the wild 

 fruits of their native woods a similar taste for the fruits 

 of the orchard and garden and some of the products of the 

 field, so that at times they appear inimical to the interests 

 of the horticulturist. Wilson Flagg says that they carry 

 off the finest apples, and feed upon the Indian corn when 

 in the milk. We have seen them accompany the robins 

 to gather supplies from the cherry trees, and have ob- 

 served them associated with the brown thrashers to regale 

 themselves with the treasured pears. Scientific investi- 

 gation, however, has demonstrated the general utility of 



