136 A IlED-THllOATED PwED-HEAD. 



have often tested my skill in guessing that it was 

 he who was producing the resounding noise I 

 heard, and have been correct every time. Perhaps 

 he has a stouter drum-stick than his fellow-crafts- 

 men, or chooses a larger piece of bark for a 

 drum-head. 



As before stated, he usually is found in the 

 depths of the woods ; but sometimes he comes to 

 the suburbs of the town, and even goes coasting 

 on the maple directly in front of the house. When 

 doing so, he seems to be as much at home as in his 

 native wildwood. Indeed, I do not know a bird 

 that seems to be more devoid of self-consciousness, 

 and hence more natural in his deportment. 



In some respects he differs from other wood- 

 peckers. Mr. Ridgway calls him a " sapsucker," 

 and does not apply the name woodpecker to him 

 at all. A favorite author says that he " lacks the 

 long, extensile tongue, which enables the other 

 woodpeckers to probe the winding galleries of 

 wood-eating larvee, and is known to feed largely on 

 the green inner baik of trees. In some localities 

 he is said to destroy many trees by stripping off 

 the bark." However, if he sometimes does damage 

 of this kind, his visits are of great benefit to or- 

 chards and groves, where he devours large num- 



