A DOUBTFUL QUESTION. 291 
bills, and have admired the adroitness with which 
they tried it at different holes, until they found 
one of its exact calibre.’ 
I have seen the acorns in the holes, and the 
birds that are said to put them there, and 
have no right to doubt the statements of other 
observers; but it seems strange to me, that I 
cannot find a single acorn exhibiting any evi- 
dence of being eaten during the winter. These 
were stored on the previous fall; winter has 
passed away, and yet not a seed has been eaten, 
as far as I can see. I opened the stomachs of 
the two birds I shot, but not a trace of vegetable 
matter was in either of them. Subsequently I 
killed and examined the stomachs of a great many 
specimens, but never detected anything save in- 
sect remains. 
Does this woodpecker ever eat acorns? I think 
not. More than this, when the insects die, or go 
to sleep during the cold, snowy, biting winter 
months, the woodpeckers, like all other sensible 
birds, go southwards, and have no need to store 
up a winter supply, as do quasi-hybernating 
mammals. Then it occurred to me, that if they 
really do take the trouble to bore holes, a work 
of great time and labour, and into every hole 
carefully drive a sound acorn that they never 
nu 2 
