THE DOWNY WOODPECKER 



{Dryobates piibesce7is.) 



To most people the mention of "wood- 

 pecker" brings to mind at once the red- 

 head or the flicker. Everybody is ac- 

 quainted with these birds and knows the 

 day they make their appearance in 

 spring ; they announce their coming with 

 a display of color and vociferous cries, 

 the red-head with his "clerk" or "da,re- 

 dare-dare" and the yellow-hammer -v^^ith 

 his "flicker, flicker, flicker," and every- 

 one hears and notes those sonorous tap- 

 pings with which they call their mates. 

 Comparatively few are acquainted with 

 the one that is in many ways the most in- 

 teresting of them all, the Downy, and of 

 those who do know him by sight, he is 

 usually called by a slanderously incrimi- 

 nating name "Sapsucker," and his man- 

 ner of life viewed with suspicion. 



There are few better examples of mod- 

 est worth hidden in obscurity than in 

 the case of the little Downy. If all the 

 woodpeckers were to alight in the same 

 tree in equally conspicuous positions, the 

 Downy would be the last to be seen, and 

 the last to know he was seen. He would 

 be too busy attending to work to pay at- 

 tention to observers, while the red-head 

 and yellow-hammer appear to have more 

 of the self-consciousness that goes with 

 a handsome appearance. 



Of all our woodpeckers the Downy is 

 the smallest of all except one, which al- 

 most exactly resembles him in color. He 

 is the most plainly colored, his color con- 

 sisting of black, more or less spotted with 

 white above, a white streak along the 

 middle of the back, white stripes on the 

 sides of the head, and, in the male, a 

 small red crescent on the crown ; this last 

 bit of color is absent in the female. 



For several reasons the Downy Wood- 

 pecker is the best worth knowing of all 

 the family. He is with us the year 

 around, winter and summer, bright days 

 and dark, and on gloomy days of winter 

 when all his relatives except the hairy 

 are safely housed or down in warmer cli- 



mates. A trip along a copse-bordered 

 road or open woodland, or through an 

 orchard or even a city avenue lined with 

 trees, is likely to result in the discovery 

 of one of these birds busily engaged in 

 search of insects. There are certain 

 plants and situations he prefers to others. 

 He is particularly fond of pecking at 

 small willows, or, in autumn to peck at 

 the seedpods of the dead mullein stalks. 



Not only is he with us out of doors the 

 year around, but he is the most sociable 

 of his kind, or rather, he is too intent on 

 business to be easily frightened by being 

 watched. He comes into cities more 

 than the others and can occasionally be 

 seen on the trees that line broad avenues. 

 He stays in orchards more or less, and 

 rids the apple trees of insect pests. 



He can be studied better than most of 

 the woodpeckers, as one can approach 

 him quite closely while he is busied, and 

 study him at near view. He is too eager- 

 ly intent on getting that grub to let a 

 little watching bother him. When ap- 

 proached altogether too closely he makes 

 off with a heavy undulating flight, each 

 wing-beat making an audible stroke 

 against the air, toward the base of a 

 neighboring tree, which he carefully as- 

 cends to the tips of some of the upper 

 twigs, searching diligently for insects 

 and larvae. On the whole, the Downy 

 seems to prefer to work among smaller 

 trees than do the others of his family. 

 He leaves the great trees of the forest to 

 his larger relatives, while he specializes 

 among the saplings and shrubs. 



The bird has as little, either in voice 

 or action, as he has in color to attract 

 attention to himself. The usual sound 

 he makes is a rather clear shrill call, only 

 made at occasional intervals, easy 

 enough to hear and recognize indeed, 

 but by no means forcing itself on one's 

 attention. The bird is never given to 

 making fierce brandishing dashes at 

 neighbors as does the red-head, nor to 



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