184 BIRD-LAND ECHOES. 



common downy woodpecker and chatter or squeak 

 a little ; then, taking to some tall tree, run to the 

 highest point that will bear their weight and from 

 it launch into the air and soon pass out of sight. 

 Whatever damage they may do elsewhere, these 

 birds do not check the growth of new orchards here ; 

 all the sap that they take is easily spared. 



It sometimes happens that we have a woodpecker 

 day here in midwinter. Flickers, red-heads, downies, 

 and perhaps hairy woodpeckers, all may be seen 

 skipping about the fences and racing up and down 

 the fields like so many sparrows. Is it a migratory 

 "wave" from the north? My notes do hot indicate 

 any special variation in the weather immediately 

 afterwards. At other times of the year these birds 

 do not associate to any noticeable degree, but it was 

 evident, in the instances to which I refer, that their 

 simultaneous appearance was due to something more 

 than mere coincidence. The outreaching posts of 

 the old worm-fences are favorite outlooks with these 

 visiting birds, and when the sun shines on the bright 

 red heads of one species, gives added glitter to the 

 black and white of another, and shows the rich 

 coloring of the golden-wing, there is presented a 

 startling display that is long retained in our memory. 



The three-toed woodpeckers of the north do 

 not come here, it would seem, even as stragglers, 

 but if they did, they might readily be overlooked. 

 Mr. Cram says that " they are much like other wood- 

 peckers and are generally seen in deep woods. One 

 winter, six or eight years ago, they were quite com- 



