PICIIXE — T'^K WOUDPECKEKS. 571 



i*ats, and from those acorn-eatin^i; birds whose hills are not stroni,' or sliar}) 

 enough to cut throimli tlieir touiih enclosures ? 



M. Suniichrast, wlio afterwards enjoyed unusual opportunities for ohserv- 

 ing tlie hal)its of tliese Woodpeckers in the State of Vera Cruz, states that 

 they dwell exclusively in oak woixls, and that near Potrero, as well as in 

 the alpine regions, trunks of oak-trees are found pierced witli small holes in 

 circular lines around their circumference. Into each of these holes these 

 birds drive the acorns by repeated blows of their beaks, so as to fix t.'iem 

 finnly. At other times they make their collection of acorns in openings be- 

 tween the raised bark of dry trees and the trunks. This writer states that 

 he has sought in vain to explain such ]»erfonnances satisfactoi Uy. The 

 localities in which tliese birds reside, in Mexico, te(^ni at all seasons with 

 insects ; and it seems absurd, therefore, to suppose that they can be in (|uest 

 of the small, almost microscopic, larva,' contained in the acorns. 



Dr. C. T. Jackson sought to account for these interesting performances on 

 the ingenious hypothesis that the acorns thus stored aw always infesteil with 

 larva', and never sound ones ; that they are driven into the tree cup-end fore- 

 most, so as to securely imjnison the maggot and prevent its escape, and tlius 

 enable the Woodpecker to devour it at its leisure. This would argue a won- 

 derful degree of intelligence and forethought, on the part of the Woodi)ecker, 

 and more than it is entitled to : for the facts do not sustain this hv- 

 pothesis. The acorns are not put into the tree with the cuj^-end in, Init in- 

 variably the reverse, so far as we have noticed ; and the acorns, so far from 

 being wormy, are, in nine cases out of ten, sound ones. Besides, this theory 

 affords no explanation of the large collections of loose acorns made by these 

 birds in hollow trees, or in the stalks of the maguay plants. Xor can we 

 understand why, if so intelligent, they make so little use of these acorns, as 

 seems to be the almost universal testimony of California naturalists. And, 

 as still furtlier demonstrating the incorrectness of this hy[)othesi3, we liave 

 recently been informed by Dr. Canfield of Monterey, Cal., that occasionally 

 tliese Woodpeckers, following an instinct so blind that they do not distin- 

 guish between an acorn and a pebble, are known to fill up the holes they 

 have drilled with so much labor, not onlv with acorns, but occasionallv with 

 stones. In time the bark and the wood grow over these, and after a few 

 years thev are left a long wav from the surface. These trees are usuallv the 

 sugar-piue of California, a wood much used for lumber. Occasionally one 

 of these trees is cut, the log taken to mill without its being known tliat it is 

 thus charged with rounded pieces of flint or agate, and the saws that come 

 in contact with them are broken. 



Without venturing to present an explanation of facts that have appeared 

 so contradictorv and unsatisfactorv to other naturalists, such as we can claim 

 to be either comprehensive or entirely satisfactory, we cannot discredit the 

 positive averments of such observers as Saussure and Salvin. We believe 

 that these Woodpeckers do eat the acorns, when they can do no better. 



