DOWNY WOODPECKER 



Male — The top of the head, the back of the neck, the 

 cheeks, the sides of the back, the wings and the middle tail- 

 feathers black ; a white stripe over the eye and another under 

 the eye running up the side of the neck; middle of the back 

 white and the wings spotted with white; outer tail-feathers 

 white barred with black; under parts grayish- white ; a scarlet 

 band on the hind head; tail sharp. The female is similar but 

 lacks the scarlet on the head. Length, six and three-fourths 

 inches. Eggs, white, four to six, .75 x .60 inches. 



Like all the other Woodpeckers, the Downy generally 

 nests in dead trees, rarely in live ones. He pecks out a hole 

 twelve to twenty inches deep in the trunk or in a large limb of 

 a tree, enlarging the passage as he goes down. On the chips 

 that fall inside, the eggs are laid and the little ones hatched. 

 The bed may be a hard one but it is safe from the prying eyes 

 and sharp talons of the Owls, Hawks, Crows and Jays, those 

 natural enemies of the small birds. In this hole or in a similar 

 one, our Woodpecker makes his home during both summer and 

 winter. Many birds roost at night in the 'branches of the trees, 

 but this is not true of Woodpeckers. They are always safe 

 at night from storms and enemies in their .snug bedrooms. This 

 manner of nesting helps to protect the species from destruc- 

 tion. 



The Downy is the smallest of all the Woodpeckers. How- 

 ever, he makes up in strength and activity what he lacks in 

 size. There are few birds in the North more helpful to man 

 than this one. While many others wcsrk hard for us from 

 dawn to darkness during the summer time, this little keeper 



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