832 REPORT OP STATE GEOLOGIST. 



regurgitation, as are most Woodpeckers. Most people can distinguish 

 it by its larger size. To such it is commonly known as "Big Spotted 

 Woodpecker/' or "Big Sapsucker." Against this latter name I desire 

 to protest. It is not a sapsucker, but a destroyer of injurious insects, 

 for which I trust it may receive the protection which it deserves. 



*161. (394). Dryobates pubescens (LINN.). 



Downy Woodpecker. 



Head of Downy Woodpecker. Natural size. 



Smaller, but coloration similar to D. villosus, except the outer tail 

 feathers, which are barred with black; the smaller size will distin- 

 guish it. 



Length, 6.25-7.00; wing, 3.55-4.15; tail, 2.30-2.70. 



RANGE. Eastern and northern North America, from Florida to 

 Labrador and North Alaska; west to eastern Texas, Nebraska, North 

 Dakota, Manitoba, Northwest Territory, and irregularly to California 

 and Washington. Resident generally throughout its range. 



Nest, a hole in a tree. Eggs, 3-6; glossy white; .76 by .59. 



Common resident. This is the smallest of our Woodpeckers, and is 

 at the same time the most sociable. It is called "Little Spotted 

 Woodpecker" and "Little Sapsucker." This last it is not. Let no 

 one accuse it wrongly. They come about our homes in winter, even 

 into towns, to let us know that they are present and ever watchful for 

 our interests. When they do not come to us, a walk into the orchard 

 or the wood pasture will almost always bring them within sight. But 

 some windy November day, when rain or snow, one can't tell which, 

 threatens, when every bird is out of sight, a rather deep hollow in 

 the lea of a bluff is found to be peopled by a goodly company, not 

 of Downy Woodpeckers, for they seem never to be very sociable with 

 each other, but a mixed party, a composite of bird life, in which sev- 

 eral quite different birds are recognized. The greatest number are 

 Juncos. There are more of them than all other kinds together. A 



