30 THE WOODPECKERS 



of ants, running up the tree in one line and 

 down in another, touching each other with their 

 feelers as they pass. A feast for our friend! 

 He takes both columns, and leaves none to tell 

 the tale. This is a good deed, too, since ants 

 are of no benefit to fruit-trees and are very fond 

 of the dead-ripe fruit. 



And Downy is never too busy to listen for 

 borers. They are fine plump morsels much to 

 his taste, not so sour as ants, nor so hard-shelled 

 as beetles, nor so insipid as insects' eggs. A 

 good borer is his preferred dainty. The work he 

 does in catching borers is of incalculable benefit, 

 for no other bird can take his place. The war- 

 blers, the vireos, and some other birds in sum- 

 mer, the chickadees and nuthatches all the year 

 round, are helping to eat up the eggs and 

 insects that lie near the surface, but the only 

 birds equipped for digging deep under the bark 

 and dragging forth the refractory grubs are the 

 woodpeckers. 



So Downy works at his self-appointed task in 

 our orchards summer and winter, as regular as a 

 policeman on his beat. But he is much more 

 than a policeman, for he acts as judge, jury, 

 jailer, and jail. All the evidence he asks against 

 any insect is to find him loafing about the pre- 

 mises. " I swallow him first and find out after- 



