THE WOODPECKER. 91 



ciously inserted, will draw off the water, and if the aperture 

 through which it gained admission be carefully trimmed and cov- 

 ered, so as to prevent any further lodgment of moisture, the bark 

 will roll over the orifice, and soon obliterate it. The same pro- 

 cess of self-repair will heal the smaller aperture made by the au- 

 ger. Sometimes, when a semi-burrowing bird, such as the tit- 

 mouse, enters a hollow thus formed, and builds its nest therein, 

 the bark grows over the entrance, and so buries the nest in the 

 hollow of the tree. Sawyers not unfrequently find various ob- 

 jects in the trunks of trees, which have been imbedded by the 

 curative powers of the tree. 



Should, however, a fungus show itself, the tree is doomed. 

 Perhaps the parasite may fall in the autumn, and the tree may 

 show no symptoms of decay ; but at the first tempest that it may 

 have to encounter, the trunk snaps off at the spot where the fun- 

 gus has been, and the extent of the injury is at once disclosed. 

 As long as any portion of that tree retains life, it will continue to 

 throw out these destructive fungi, and even when a mere stump 

 is left in the ground, the fungi will push themselves out in pro- 

 fusion. 



The pickaxe-like beak of the Woodpecker finds no difficulty in 

 making its way through the decayed wood, and thus the bird is 

 enabled to excavate its burrow without very much trouble. The 

 nest itself can scarcely be called by that name, being nothing more 

 than a collection of the smaller chips which have fallen to the ex- 

 tremity of the tunnel while the bird was engaged in the task of 

 excavating. The burrow of the Woodpecker is as unpleasantly 

 odorous as that of the kingfisher. The eggs are pure white. 



In the British Museum may be seen samples of the burrows 

 made by this bird, a portion of the tree having been cut off, and 

 a section made, so as to show the shape, direction, and interior 

 aspect of the hole. The specimens were obtained by Mr. Gould, 

 the celebrated ornithologist, and the illustration was drawn from 

 them. 



According to Wilson and Audubon, some of the Woodpeckers 

 of Xorth America are able to excavate tunnels in the sound and 

 still undecayed wood. They do not, however, select the hard 

 wood in preference to that which is decayed, but always give the 

 precedence to the latter. Still, they are often obliged to bore 

 through several inches of solid wood, in order to reach the de- 

 cayed portion in the centre. 



