THE BIRDS OF NEW JERSEY. 205 



Woodpecker, Downy. Length, six and three quar- 

 ter inches; extent, twelve inches. It is the smallest, 

 most active and most numerous of Woodpeckers. In 

 plumage it is a miniature of the Hairy Woodpecker, the 

 only difference being that the outer tail feathers are 

 white and barred with black instead of pure white. 



The nest is similar to that of the Hairy Woodpecker 

 but smaller, the eggs are from four to six in number, 

 white in color and three-fourths by three-fifths of an inch 

 in diameter. 



It breeds and is distributed throughout the whole of 

 eastern North America. 



Its cry is a short, sharp peek, peek, with a rattling cry. 

 Like all Woodpeckers it beats a rattling tattoo. 



The food of the bird is composed of insects and vegeta- 

 ble matter. Government reports of analyses of 140 

 stomachs indicate that the contents were 74 per cent, in- 

 sects, 25 vegetable and 1 sand, ants predominating 

 among the insects. The charge that this Woodpecker 

 bores a tree for the purpose of sucking the sap, and thus 

 destroys the vitality of the tree, has been completely dis- 

 proven, the boring being merely done for the purpose of 

 obtaining insects and larvae. 



Woodpecker , Golden- Winged. See Flicker. 



W*oodpecker, Hairy. Length, nine inches; extent, 

 fifteen inches. The crown is black and the line under 

 and over the eye white; the eye is placed in a black line, 

 which widens as it descends to the back; hind head, 

 scarlet, sometimes mixed with black; the nostrils are 

 hidden under long white hairs thrown forward and up- 

 wards; the bill is a bluish horn color, grooved, wedged at 

 the end, straight, and about an inch and a quarter long; 

 touches of black, proceeding from the lower part of the 

 bill, end in a broad black stripe that joins the black on 

 the shoulder; the back is black, divided by a broad stripe 



