Il6 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO FRUIT. 



N. J., made for the purpose of investigating the insects and birds, I had an opportu- 

 nity of seeing a Downy Woodpecker in an old orchard, and passed an hour watching 

 his actions. His creeping power is wonderful. (His foot should have been repre- 

 sented in this Plate, to show how perfectly it is formed for the purpose.) I was espe- 

 cially interested to see with what speed he could move down the body of a tree back- 

 wards. This seemed even more rapid than the forward motion. 



Here I was gratified in being able to ascertain how he finds where to peck 

 through the scales of bark, so as to be sure to hit the Apple Worm that is so snugly 

 concealed beneath. The sense of smell will not account for it. Such an acute- 

 ness of one of the senses would be beyond the imagination. Instinct, that incompre- 

 hensible something, might be called in to explain to those who are satisfied to have 

 wonders accounted for by means that are in fact only confessions of ignorance. Birds 

 have instincts undoubtedly so have we ; but they are mixed up confusedly with 

 other faculties. Most of the actions of insects are purely instinctive and utterly 

 unaccountable. But the Apple Moth is not a native of this country the Downy 

 Woodpecker is. The bird would not have been created with a special instinct to 

 find the larva of a moth that did not exist in the same country. Other insects live 

 under these scales of rough bark ; but in very numerous examinations, I have not seen 

 such a hole made except when leading directly into the cocoon of this particular 

 caterpillar. 



This little bird finds the concealed larvae under the bark, not from any noise the 

 insect makes ; it is not a grub of a beetle having a boring habit, and liable to make 

 a sound that might betray its retreat, in seasons of the year when not torpid. 

 A caterpillar makes scarcely an appreciable noise, even when spinning its cocoon, 

 and when that is finished it rests as quietly within as an Egyptian mummy in its 

 sarcophagus. 



There is no evidence that the Downy Woodpecker ever makes a mistake ; it 

 has some way of judging. The Squirrel does not waste its time in cracking an 

 empty nut. There is no reason to believe that this bird ever makes holes through 

 these scales merely for pastime, or for any other purpose except for food. He 

 knows before he begins that if he works through, just in that spot, he will find a 

 dainty morsel at the bottom of it, as delicious to him as the meat of the nut is to the 

 squirrel. But how does he know? By sounding tap, tap, tap, just as the physician 

 learns the condition of the lungs of his patient by what he calls percussion. The 

 bird uses his beak, generally three times in quick succession sometimes oftener; 

 then tries another. Watch him. See how ever and anon he will stop in his quick 

 motions up and down, and give a few taps upon the suspected scale, and then test 



