258 GLEANINGS FROM NATURE. 



loud " char-char" or "chuck, chuck, chuck," and then 

 immediately resumes his pecking with increased vigor. 

 Rarely in winter, when insect food is scarce, does 

 he visit the farmer's corn crib and, gaining ingress 

 between the logs or rails, helps himself to a bountiful 

 supply of food. 



As the nesting season approaches he, with his chosen 

 mate, seeks the privacy of the deepest woods, where 

 high above the grounds n some decaying limb or trunk 

 of tree a place for a nest is excavated. The eggs are 

 four to six in number, pure white in color, and about 

 lx.87 inches in size. 



To the farmer who owns timber land this wood- 

 pecker is one of the most beneficial of birds. The 

 number of kinds of insects which prey upon our native 

 forest trees is surprisingly large. The oak harbors 

 between 500 and 600 species ; the hickory, 140 ; the 

 walnut, 70; the elm, 25 to 30, and the maple at least 

 15. To the presence of these insects, more than to 

 anything else, is the stunted growth and early decay 

 of our timber due. Thousands of wood-boring beetles, 

 caterpillars, plant lice and young saw-flies are annu- 

 ally destroyed by the zebra bird. On this account the 

 farmers who have not already made his acquaintance, 

 should at least seek to know him by sight, and always 

 protect him and his young from their now most dan- 

 gerous enemies, the small boy with his musket and 

 the city sportsman with his shotgun. 



In autumn, especially, the woods and fields through- 

 out the State are full of these self-styled " hunters," 

 ready at a moment's notice to bring down any bird 

 larger than a sparrow, any animal above a field mouse 



