94 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 



that height range down to five feet, or sometimes even lower when they 

 choose to take up their domicile in a fence post. They lay from four to 

 six, most often four or five, pure white glossy eggs. These vary great- 

 ly in size and range from .73 to .86 in. in length by .56 to .64 in. in 



r^ 



width. Usually the eggs are laid upon the fine chips at the bottom of 

 the excavation, or there may be a slight bed of either feathers or fine 

 grasses. They nest all through May and the early part of June. 



HABITS 



The Downy is one of the smallest, most social, and probably the best 

 known of all the American Woodpeckers, They are erroneously called 

 Sapsuckers by some. Theyhave never been known to indulge in this 

 practice, which owing to the abundance of these Woodpeckers would 

 destroy large numbers of trees. On the contrary they are of the great- 

 est assistance to the horticulturist, as their food consists of beetles, cat- 

 erpillars, spiders, ants, and the larvae or eggs of nearly all insects. At 

 such times as their regular fare is lacking they will feed on seeds, ber- 

 ries, or nuts. One way to obtain their friendship in winter is to sus- 

 pend pieces of meat or suet from trees where they are abundant; they 

 will come day after day to this welcome food, which they will share in 

 perfect harmony with nuthatches, chickadees, etc. You have probably 

 noticed rows of tiny holes extending nearly around some apple trees. 

 These are the work of the Downy in his search for the insects which, if 

 left to do their work unhampered, would soon increase in numbers so as 

 to devastate every orchard. He will stand on the upright trunk of the 

 tree, firmly braced with his pointed and stiffened tail feathers, and 

 chisel through the bark in a regular series of holes as he works his way 

 sideways around the trunk; he will then drop down about his own 

 length and hammer another circle around the tree. As far as injuring 

 the trees by his work upon them, those that have the most numerous 

 Woodpecker tappings are generally the ones that are in the most flour- 

 ishing condition, not directly because of his labor, but because of the 

 diminished number of insects who would attack it vitally. 



Downys are not very sociable among their own kind, as seldom are 

 more than two or three seen near together, but they do like the com- 

 pany, especially in winter, of nuthatches, kinglets, chickadees, and any 

 others of the small winter birds. They also like the vicinity of human 

 habitations better than the larger woods and are seldom found in the 



