Downy Woodpecker. 243 



their attack, but soon I could see his eyes flash with anger 

 at every stroke he received, and both the little belligerents 

 were certain to strike him adroitly at every turn. I have 

 seldom seen two human beings support each other more 

 intelligently and effectively than those two little vireos. 



The red-eyed vireo is chiefly insectivorous, especially 

 until after the brood is reared, the food of the nestlings 

 being almost exclusively insects and larvae. This vireo 

 is very active in its pursuit of insects in the upper parts 

 of the trees, during the early part of the season, and its 

 movements then have been likened to those of the warb- 

 lers. It has a sweet tooth also, and the ripening berries 

 of the woods allure it to modify its ordinary diet of 

 insects. Along with the catbird and the brown thrasher, it 

 will occasionally dine upon the '' pokeberries " found 

 beside the hedges that border the woods. The raspberry 

 and blackberry bushes which grow in some parts of the 

 woods furnish it a welcome change. Unlike the warb- 

 ling vireo, which resumes its accustomed habits and 

 warbles its familiar songs after the breeding and moulting 

 season, the red-eyed vireo makes a partial change in its 

 bill of fare, sings only occasionally, and visits more fre- 

 quently the bushes growing under the trees it inhabited 

 exclusively in the early portion of the season. The friend- 

 ships it forms in its moulting resorts are too strong to be 

 broken altogether, and the taste of the new dishes it finds 

 lingers in its mouth and draws it frequently from its 

 lofty insect fare. It apparently knows full well the resour- 

 ces of the woods, and means to live upon the best its sur- 

 roundings afford — an ever cheerful, happy-hearted fellow, 

 like all true woodsmen, contented in the pleasures of a 

 ivell-regulated, serviceable existence. 



DOWNY WOODPECKER 



The attention of the woodland rambler can not fail to 

 be attracted by the noisy calls and obtrusive actions of 

 the woodpeckers, but while the habits of all the members 

 of this family are quaint and interesting, the active move- 

 ments and sprightly manners of the smallest of our wood- 



