48 THE WOODPECKERS 



bark in which he usually stores his nuts/ this 

 specimen looks rough and unfinished, and even 

 shows some acorns driven in sidewise ; but for 

 another reason I have preferred it to better- 

 looking examples of his work for study. As 

 we shall see later, it gives us a definite bit of 

 information about the bird. 



Think of the work of digging these twelve 

 holes. Think of the labor of carrying these ten 

 large acorns and driving them in so tightly that 

 after years of shrinking they cannot be removed 

 by a knife without injuring either the acorn or 

 the bark. Yet how small a part of the wood- 

 pecker's year's work is here ! How long could 

 he live on ten acorns ? How many must he 

 gather for his winter's needs ? How many must 

 he lose by forgetting to come back to them? 

 We cannot calculate the work a single bird does 

 nor the nuts he eats, for several birds usually 

 work in company and may use the same tree; 

 but all the woodpeckers are large eaters, and the 

 Californian has been singled out for special 

 mention. 



Can we estimate the amount of work required 

 to lay up one day's food? Judging by the 



1 They often use white-oak bark, fence-posts, telegfaph poles, 

 even the stalks of century-plants, when trees are not convenient. 

 (Merriam, Auk, viii. 117.) 



