70 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



England in the breeding season. There has been an apparent 

 increase during the year in the number of Northern Pileated 

 Woodpeckers. This may indicate a southward migration. The 

 autumnal flight of Geese and Brants showed a great falling off 

 from that of 1921. Apparently this was partly due to the fact 

 that few young were raised, and in part to off-shore winds that 

 drifted the coastal flight out to sea. 



A Comparison of the Work of the Downy Woodpecker 



WITH THAT OF THE SaPSUCKER. 



A careful comparison has been made of perforations in the 

 bark of two apple-tree limbs cut from the trees by Mr. A. A. 

 Cross of Huntington, Massachusetts. One of these shows holes 

 which the Sapsucker itself was seen to make. The other shows 

 somewhat similar perforations which were made by a Downy 

 Woodpecker while under observation. The examination of 

 these two specimens was made to see if any difference could 

 be observed by which the work of each species could be recog- 

 nized. Unfortunately the bark on the limb perforated by the 

 Woodpecker was more than twice as thick as that on the Sap- 

 sucker limb. Therefore the holes made by the Woodpecker 

 averaged about twice as deep as those made by the Sapsucker. 

 They are arranged irregularly in horizontal rows, but rather 

 more regularly than those of the Sapsucker. These perforations 

 look much alike, but close examination shows a recognizable 

 difference. The holes made by the Downy, although deeper, 

 are no larger; in fact, they average smaller, and are more 

 uniform in size than those made by the Sapsucker. Their ex- 

 ternal diameter varies somewhat in accordance with the thick- 

 ness of the bark. These perforations are more or less conical 

 in section, being smaller at the end and larger at the beginning. 

 The sides of the perforations are roughened by projecting fibers 

 of the bark, and are not as clean-cut as those made by the 

 Sapsucker. In no case do these perforations penetrate through 

 the bark into the wood, and many of them apparently do not 

 reach the cambium; also, some of them seem to slant a little 

 upward. The perforations of the Sapsucker, on the other hand, 

 vary in size from a small hole, much like that made by the 

 Downy, to one more than half an inch in diameter. The sides 

 of the perforations are nearly rectangular to the surface of the 



