SONGLESS BIRDS OF ORCHARD AND WOODLAND, 253 
saving most of the trees. The cut (Fig. 109) shows a por- 
tion of the top of one of these trees, riddled by the borer. 
The knife-cut at the bottom exposes their galleries. The 
small perforations along the stem were made by 
the Woodpecker in extracting the grubs. 
The untiring industry of this bird and the per- 
fection of its perceptive powers may be shown 
by the experience of Mr. Bailey. On March 28, 
1899, a Downy Woodpecker that he watched 
climbed over and inspected one hundred and 
eighty-one woodland trees between 9.40 a.m. 
and 12.15 p.m., and made twenty-six excava- 
tions for food. Most of these holes exposed gal- 
leries in the trunks or in high branches where 
wood-boring ants were hiding. The openings 
that the bird drilled in piercing one of these 
tunnels in a branch some thirty-five feet from 
the ground are shown in Fig. 110. It had un- 
covered dormant black ants, and in each case had 
pierced their 
Q burrow at 
the exact spot 
where they were 
gathered. These 
wood-boring ants 
often gain an entrance 
at some unprotected 
spot on a living tree, and 
so excavate the wood of the 
trunk that the tree is blown 
down by the wind. This Wood- 
pecker acts as a continual check Fig. 109. 
on the increase of such ants. 
oe ae en The delicacy of that sense of. touch or 
Woodpecker and audition by which the bird was enabled to 
ee locate those motionless insects in their hid- 
den burrow must ever command our admiration, unendowed 
as we are with such delicate perceptive powers. 
Another Downy Woodpecker was seen on March 31 taking 
