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104 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. 
insects form at least two-thirds of his subsistence ; and his stomach 
is scarcely ever found without them. He searches for them with a 
dexterity and intelligence, I may safely say, more than human: he 
perceives, by the exterior appearance of the bark, where they lurk 
below; when he is dubious, he rattles vehemently on the outside 
with his bill, and his acute ear distinguishes the terrified vermin 
shrinking within to their inmost retreats, where his pointed and 
barbed tongue soon reaches them. The masses of bugs, cater- 
pillars, and other larva, which I have taken from the stomachs 
of these birds, have often surprised me. ‘These larvz, it should be 
remembered, feed not only on the buds, leaves, and blossoms, but 
on the very vegetable life of the tree,—the alburnum, or newly 
forming bark and wood. ‘The consequence is, that the whole 
branches and whole trees decay under the silent ravages of these 
destructive vermin; witness the late destruction of many hundred 
acres of pine-trees in the north-eastern parts of South Carolina, 
and the thousands of peach-trees that yearly decay from the same 
cause. Will any one say, that, taking half a dozen, or half a 
hundred, apples from a tree, is equally ruinous with cutting it 
down? or that the services of a useful animal should not be 
rewarded with a small portion of that which it has contributed to 
preserve? We are told, in the benevolent language of the Scrip- 
tures, not to muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the 
corn; and why should not the same generous liberality be ex- 
tended to this useful family of birds, which forms so powerful a 
phalanx against the inroads of many millions of destructive ver- 
min #” 
About the middle of May, this species pairs, and soon 
commences excavating a hole in a tree, either in the woods 
or orchard, as he is not particular in his choice. This work 
is done by both the birds, who labor with industry and 
cheerfulness until the excavation is finished; this is from 
fourteen to eighteen inches deep, and, like those of other 
woodpeckers, is roomy at the bottom, and tapering gradually 
to the entrance, which is only large enough for the comfort- 
able passage of the bird: it is not lined, but the bottom is 
partly covered with chips from the sides of the hole. The 
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