THE WINTER BIRDS. 281 



offspring. Indeed, there is such a variety in the notes 

 uttered at different times by this bird, that if they were 

 repeated in uninterrupted succession, they would form 

 one of the most agreeable of woodland melodies. 



The Chickadee is not a singing-bird. He utters his 

 usual notes at all times of the year; but in the early 

 part of summer he is addicted to a low and pleasant kind 

 of warbling, considerably varied and wanting only more 

 loudness and precision to entitle him to rank among the 

 singing-birds. This warbling seems to be a sort of solilo- 

 quizing for his own amusement. If it were uttered by 

 the young birds only, we miglxt suppose them to be tak- 

 ing lessons in music and that this was one of their first 

 attempts. I have heard a Golden Eobin occasionally 

 warbling in a similar manner. 



THE DOWNY WOODPECKER. 



In company with the Chickadees, we often see two 

 speckled Woodpeckers, differing apparently only in size, 

 each having a small red crest. The smaller of the two is 

 the Downy Woodpecker. The birds of this species are 

 called Sap-suckers, from their habit of making perfora- 

 tions in the sound branches of trees, through the bark, 

 without penetrating the wood, as if for the purpose of 

 obtaining the sap. These perforations are often in two 

 or three parallel circles around the branch, very close 

 together, and it is probable that they follow the path 

 of a grub that is concealed under the bark: Wilson 

 examined many trees that were perforated in this man- 

 ner, and saw evidence that they suffered no harm from it. 

 But why the bird should be so precise and formal in his 

 markings of the tree is a mystery not yet satisfactorily 

 explained. 



The Woodpecker, however, takes a great part of his 



