with tlilliculty extracted. Tim's, tlic hark of a lai'Ljo pine forty or fifty foot 

 higli will })roS('iit tiio appoaranoo of hoiiii^- olosoly studded with hrass nails, 

 tlie heads only hoinij; visihlo. These acorns are thus stored in large <[uanti- 

 ties, and sorve not only tln^ Woodpecker, hut tres}»assers as well. Dr. Heer- 

 inann s])oaks of the nest as hoing exoavated in the l»ody of the tree to a 

 dei)th varying from six inches to two feet, the eggs heing four or five in 

 number, and ])ure white. 



These very remaikaljle and, for a Woodpecker, somewhat anomalous 

 habits, frst mentioned among American writers by Dr. Ileermann, have 

 given rise to various conflicting .statements and theories in regard to the 

 desiiin of these collections of acorns. Some have even ventured to discredit 

 the facts, but these are too well authenticated to ha (piestioned. Too many 

 naturalists whose accuracy cannot be doubted have been eyewitnesses to 

 these performances. Among these is Mr. J. K. Lord, who, however, was 

 constrained to confess his utter inability to explain why the birds did so. 

 He was never able to find an acorn that seemed to have Iteen eaten, nor a 

 trace of vciretable matter in their st(jmachs, and at the close of his investi- 

 gations he frankly admitte<l this storing (^f acorns to be a mystery for which 

 he could otter no satisfactory explanation. 



M. H. de Saussure, the Swiss naturalist, in an interesting paper published 

 in 1858 in the Bihliofhe'jHe Uniccrsdlc of Geneva, furnishes some very 

 interesting ol»servations on the habits of a Woodpecker, which he supposed 

 to be the Colaptcs mtwicaiiouJv.'i of Mexico, of storing collections of acorns in 

 the hollow stems of the maguay jdants. Sumichrast, who accompanied 

 Saussure in his excursion, while recognizing the entire truth of the interest- 

 ing facts he narrates, is confident that the credit of all this instinctive fore- 

 thought belongs not to the Colnpti^i, but to the Mexican race of this species. 

 Saussure's article being too long to ipiote in full, we give >■ "^c'.. 



The slopes of a volcanic mountain, Pizarro, near Peru """o are 



covered with immense beds of the maguay {At/are amcricaiO' '^h larger 

 growths of yuco'\^, but without any other large shrubs or tx. . Saus- 

 sure was sur})rised to find this silent and dismal wilderness swarming with 

 Woodpeckers. A circumstance so unusual as this large congregation of birds, 

 by nature so solitary, in a spot so unattractive, ])rompted him to inves- 

 tigate the mystery. The birds were seen to fly first to the stalks of the 

 maguay, to attack them with their beaks, and then to pass to the yuccas, 

 and there repeat their labors. These stalks, upon examination, were all 

 found to be riddled with holes, placed irregularly one above another, and 

 communicating with the holhnv cavity within. On cutting open one of 

 these stalks, he fountl it tilled with acorns. 



As is well known, this plant, after flowering, dies, its stalk remains, its outer 

 coverinu; hardens into a flintv texture, and its centre becomes hollow. This 

 convenient cavity is used by the Wood])ecker as a storehouse for provisions 

 that are unusual food for the tribe. The central cavity of the stalk is only 



VOL. II. 72 



