18 THE AUDUBON BULLETIN 



Czar Red-Head 



Among our winter visitors this year the most entertaining has been 

 a lone red-headed woodpecker. We have called him the Czar as he has 

 been absolute monarch of his domain. 



The Czar's winter sojourn with us was evidently premeditated for 

 during the fall we noticed him every day as he worked most diligently 

 from daylight to sun-down, carrying suet from our food table to two 

 trees on opposite sides of the house — one a large swamp white oak and 

 the other a red maple, whose top had been cut off years ago and whose 

 trunk had died for about a foot below the cut end. 



Soon after the woodpecker began to put away his winter stores the 

 autocratic way in which he guarded these two trees first attracted our 

 attention to him. If a squirrel or a bluejay visited either tree, the Czar 

 would suddenly appear from some unseen quarter, although perhaps we 

 had not noticed him for several days, and make things so uncomfortable 

 for the intruders, flying savagely at them at the same time uttering his 

 loud scolding note, that they would quickly beat a retreat. No other 

 regular winter visitors seemed to annoy His Majesty excepting the ever 

 present English sparrows and they soon learned to keep away from his 

 property. 



On close examination of the oak we were surprised to find pieces of 

 suet tucked securely under the rough edges of the bark and very close 

 together from the ground up the entire length of the trunk. The empty 

 top of the maple seemed to be the portion of that tree utilized as a larder. 

 We have never seen him hide food to any extent in any of the other trees 

 altho we have a number of large oaks in other parts of the yard, — neither 

 have we seen him take exception to the presence in any of the other trees of 

 either blue jays, squirrels or sparrows, a number of which have come daily to 

 the feeding table, which is in a large oak between the two selected by the 

 red-head. One very cold day in midwinter a wandering crow alighted 

 on top of the maple tree treasure house. We imagine that the Czar has 

 wintered in this treetop surrounded by the fruit of his labors and it took 

 only a second for him to appear in defense of his possessions. Such a 

 scolding as he administered to his unwelcome guest and such courage as 

 he displayed in his frantic efforts to dislodge him from the tree were 

 remarkable — flying at him again and again in the greatest wrath. The 

 crow seemed astonished at first at such unhospitality but soon decided 

 that "discretion was the better part of valor" and finally took his departure 

 cawing loudly his protests but even louder sounded the victorious scolding- 

 notes of the woodpecker. 



We trust that the Czar may bring his bride this spring to the home 

 in the maple tree. If he does they are assured of a hearty welcome and, 

 in spite of the high cost of living, of all the suet which the family can 

 possibly use. e 



Marion L. Moseley, Highland Park. 

 [As to the activities of other red-headed woodpeckers, see Mr. Schaefer's 

 article entitled "Winter Birds on a Rock Island County Farm." Editor]. 



