398 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 



cactus and hedge him around with a circle, out of which the 

 reptile, unable to escape, and enraged by the prickly points 

 opposing him on every side, strikes himself, and dies from the 

 effects of his self-inoculated venom." The Los Angeles Star, 

 in one of its numbers published in February, 1871, says the 

 paisano will attack the snake when awake, and if it fails to 

 kill him at the first stroke of the beak, will surround him with 

 the cactus leaves, while the rattler remains coiled up, ready 

 for another attack. After the thorny fence is completed, the 

 bird again strikes the reptile till it is dead. One snake thus 

 killed was four feet long. 



317. Woodpeckers. There are eleven species of wood- 

 pecker in the State, and two of them, the Californian (Melan- 

 erpes formicivorus) and Lewis's (Melanerpes torquatus) are- 

 worthy of special mention. 



The Californian woodpecker is called by the Spanish Cali- 

 fornians the carpintero, or carpenter, because he is in the habit 

 of boring holes with his beak in the bark of the nut-pine, red- 

 wood, Californian white oak, and Western yellow pine, and 

 then storing acorns in them for his winter use. The holes are 

 just large and deep enough to hold each an acorn, which is 

 hammered in so that there is no danger of its falling out. The 

 acorns on the northern side of the tree, where they are pro- 

 tected from the rains, which come from the southward, often 

 keep good for years. The bark of the nut-pine is preferred, 

 probably being softer and more regular in grain than any 

 other bark. The holes are bored to within two or three feet 

 of the ground, and to a height of fifty feet sometimes, but 

 rarely, in the limbs as well as the trunk. From thirty to fifty 

 holes are often found in a square foot. In seasons when 

 or places where acorns are rare, the woodpecker will put 

 away hazel-nuts in the same manner. The squirrels often 

 plunder the stores, and then the birds attack the thieves, dart- 

 ing down upon them and pecking them with their beaks. 

 When the squirrel sees the property-owner coming, he hurries 



