164 BIRDS 



The Downy Woodpecker 



Length — 6 to 7 inches. About the size of the English 

 sparrow. 



Male and Female — Black above, striped with white. Tail 

 shaped like a wedge. Outer tail feathers white, barred 

 with black. Middle tail feathers black. A black stripe 

 on top of head, and distinct white band over and under 

 the eyes. Red patch on nape of neck — lacking in fe- 

 male. Wings with six white bands crossing them 

 transversely; white underneath. 



Range — Eastern North America, from Labrador to Florida. 



Migrations — ^Resident all the year throughout its range. 



A hardy little friend is the downy woodpecker who, like 

 the chickadee, stays by us the year around. Probably no 

 other two birds are so useful in our orchards as these, that 

 keep up a tireless search for the insect robbers of our fruit. 

 Wintry weather can be scarcely too severe for either, for 

 both wear a warm coat of fat under their skins and both 

 have the comfort of a snug retreat when bitter blasts blow. 



Downy is too good a carpenter to neglect making a cozy 

 cavity for himself in autumn, just as the hairy woodpecker 

 does. The chickadee, titmouse, nuthatches, bluebird, wren, 

 tree swallow, sparrow-hawk, crested flycatcher, and owls, 

 are not the only birds that are thankful to occupy his 

 snug quarters in some old tree after he has moved out in 

 the spring to the new nursery that his mate and he make for 

 their family. He knows the advantage of a southern ex- 

 posure for his hollow home and chisels his winter quarters 

 deep enough to escape a draft. Here he lives in single 



