.■il2 Norrni American hirds. 



describes tlu^ cMitiiuu'e to tlic excavation as ofton Ihmiilj at rii/lit an<'k*s to tliu 

 trunk lor a tew iialies I»et'nie it desfends. He states that in tlie Southern 

 and Middh; States two hioods are raised in a season, farther north seld(»ni 

 more than one. 



Mv. C S. Paine, of IJandolph, Vt., speaks of this AVoodpecker as heini; one 

 «>r the most eommon and familiar, in \'ermont,of the family. They are to he 

 met with in his neiuhlioilmod at all seasons of th(^ year, thou^di he is of the 

 (»l»inion that many of them j^o south to si)end the winter. They dep«»sil their 

 e«.jgs ahout the tirst of dune in the very snw^ little excavations they prepare. 

 The male hird will sometimes }»rei>are a separate apartment for hims»df, apart 

 from his mate. Mr. Paine has taken the male in such a lude hv himself, and 

 without any nest or egj^s, evidently only prepared for shelter. 



This Woodpecker has a sinj^de note or cry, sounding like clilnl:, which it 

 fre<iuently repeats. When it tlies, and often when it alights, this cry is 

 more shrill and pndonged. They are very industrious, and are constantly 

 employed in search of insects, chiefly in orchards and the more open 

 groves. The orchard is its favorite resort, and it is ])articularly fond of hor- 

 ing the hark of apple-trees for insects. This fact, and the erroneous impres- 

 si(jn that it taps the trees for the sap, has given to these birds the common 

 name of Sapsuckers, and has cau.sed an unjust i>rejudice against them. 

 So far from doing any injury to the trees, they are of great and unmixed 

 benefit. Wilson, who was at great pains to investigate the matter, declares 

 that he invariably found that those trees that were thus marked by the 

 Woodpecker were uniformly the most thriving and the most productive. 

 "Here, then," adds Wilson, " is a whole species — I may say genus — of 

 birds, which Providence seems to have formed for the protection of our fruit 

 and forest trees from the ravages of vermin, which every day destroy mil- 

 lions of those noxious insects that would otherwise blast the hopes of the 

 husbandman, and even promote the fertility of the tree, and in return 

 are proscribed by those who ought to have been their protectors." 



The M.^^, of this species is nearly spherical, pure white, and measures .83 by 

 .72 of an inch. 



Reus pubescens, var. gairdneri, Aud. 



OAIBDNEB'S WOODFECXEB. 



Picns gnirdneri, Arn. Orn. Biog. V, 1839, 317. — 1b. Syn. 1839, 180. —Id. Birds Amcr. 

 IV, 1S42, 252 (not figiiml). — Baiiid, Rinls N. Am. IS'.S, 91, pi. Ixxxv, f. 2, 3. — 

 SrxDEVALL, f'onsp. 1866, 17. — (cRay, Cat. 1868, 44. — Cooper & Suckley, 159. — 

 ScLATER, Catal. 1862, 334. — Malh. Monog. Picidse, I, 123. —Cass. P. A. N. S, 1863, 

 201. —Cooper, Orn. Cal. I, 1870, 377. — Lord, Pr. R. Art. Inst. IV, 1864, 111. 

 Picus meridional is, XuTT. Man. I, (2d ed.,) 1840, 6l»0 (not of Swaixson). — Gambel, 

 J. A. N. Sc. I, 1847, 55, 105. Picua tiimti, Malherbe, Mon. Pic. I, 125, tab. 29 

 (small race, 5.50, from Monterey, Cal., nearest pubescens). Dryohates tnrati. Cab. & 

 IIein. Mus. Hein. IV, 2, 1863, 65. JJryobatcs homorus, Cab. & Hein. Mus. Hein. IV, 

 2, 1863, 65 (larger, niore spotted style). 



