268 Birds of Buzzard's Roost 



frequently found fresh bits of bark at the base of the trees and 

 almost invariably have found that it was occasioned by the 

 Downy, quite a few of whom come into our city especially 

 in the winter season. Winter seems to have no terrors for 

 them. The contented little creatures always seem so busy. I 

 have observed that they not only work on the boles of the 

 trees but far out on the limbs of them. 



They have a very pleasing little call note which they utter 

 as they work. 



"A little woodpecker am I, 



And you may always know 

 When I am searching for a worm, 



For tap, tap, tap, I go." 



Of this woodpecker, Major Bendire says: "It is not as 

 noisy a bird as the majority of woodpeckers, and utters but 

 few notes, except during mating season when two or three 

 males are in pursuit of a female. While searching for food it 

 utters occasionally a low 'pshir, pshir.' One of its common call 

 notes sounds like 'pwit, pwit,' terminating with 'tehee, tehee, 

 tehee,' rapidly repeated. Another note, uttered when a pair 

 are chasing each other, reminds one somewhat of the 'kick- 

 kick' of the flicker, but is not uttered as loudly. In the early 

 spring the male frequently amuses himself by persistently 

 drumming on some resonant dry limb, often for fifteen min- 

 utes at a time, to attract the attention of his mate, or as a chal- 

 lenge to some rival, but later in the season this is less fre- 

 quently heard. It is exceedingly graceful in all its movements 

 on a tree trunk, moving up or down as well as sidewise with 

 equal facility, and I have seen it hanging perfectly motionless 

 for minutes at a time in the same position, apparently as if in 

 deep thought." 



The one thing most noticeable about the birds is their 

 adaptability to all conditions. For instance, we have birds of 

 the field and prairie that live on the ground ; birds that live on 

 the bodies of our trees ; birds that live in the tree tops among 

 the twigs and leaves of the trees, and birds that live in mid- 

 air and are almost constantly in flight. Each of 'these is won- 

 derfully adapted to its sphere and condition of life, and as I 

 look at it, especially created and fitted to wage a warfare for 



