PICID^E. 125 



of so insignificant a little bird as I am. If there be that 

 spark of feeling in your breast which they say man pos- 

 sesses, or ought to possess, above all other animals, do a 

 poor, injured creature a little kindness, and watch me in 

 your woods only for one day. . I never wound your healthy 

 trees. I should perish for want in the attempt. The sound 

 bark would easily resist the force of my bill ; and were I 

 even to pierce through it, there would be nothing inside 

 that I could fancy or my stomach digest. I often visit 

 them, it is true, but a knock or two convinces me that I 

 must go elsewhere for support ; and were you to listen at- 

 tentively to the sound which my bill causes, you would 

 know whether I am upon a healthy or an unhealthy tree. 

 Wood and bark are not my food. I live entirely upon the 

 insects which have already formed a lodgment in the dis- 

 tempered tree. When the sound informs me that my prey 

 is there, I labour for hours together till I get at it ; and by 

 consuming it for my own support I prevent its further de- 

 predations in that part. Thus I discover for you your hid- 

 den and unsuspected foe, which has been devouring your 

 wood in such secrecy that you had not the least suspicion it 

 was there. The hole which I make in order to get at the 

 pernicious vermin will be seen by you as you pass under 



