SONGLfiSS BIRDS OF ORCHARD AND WOODLAND. 259 



the wood and then for an instant holds the point of one 

 mandible in the dent thus made, while it listens for the 

 movements of the borer. He contends that the vibrations 

 produced by the insect in the wood are conveyed through 

 the bill of the bird to its brain. 



This bird eats less animal food in proportion to its vege- 

 table food than does the Downy Woodpecker ; and accord- 

 ing to Professor Beal it eats more beetles, more caterpillars, 

 and less ants, than does its smaller relative. Beetles and 

 their larvae form fully one-third of its insect food, and a large 

 part of these consists of the larger wood-boring insects. Its 

 special usefulness inheres in its large size, its long beak and 

 tongue, and its power of drilling deep into the trees and 

 extracting from trunks and branches the larger pernicious 

 borers. In this respect the bird is more nearly indispensa- 

 ble to the forester and orchardist than any other bird of the 

 State, except perhaps the Pileated Woodpecker, which is so 

 local as to be of much less value generally. Mr. J, M. 

 Baskett tells of some Siberian crab trees in his yard that were 

 attacked by borers. One of the trees died ; but a Hairy 

 Woodpecker came, worked diligently, and cleaned out all the 

 grubs, thus saving the remaining trees. 



This Woodpecker is often quite destructive to hairy cat- 

 erpillars, and feeds its young on noxious larvse of many 

 species. It also attacks the pupse or chrysalids of many in- 

 jurious moths, among them those of the gipsy moth. Moths 

 that hibernate in cocoons during the winter are particularly 

 exposed to the attacks of this Woodpecker. Dr. F. M. 

 Webster states that he saw one of these birds peck through 

 the cocoon of the cecropia moth, and devour the contents. 

 On examining more than a score of these cocoons, he found 

 only two uninjured by the bird. Ants, grasshoppers, and 

 spiders are eaten. 



Its vegetable food is much like that of the Downy, but is 

 consumed in much larger quantity. It sometimes takes a 

 little corn ; in summer it feeds much on wild cherries, and 

 in the fall on wild grapes to some extent. Like the Downy, 

 it eats a little of the inner bark or cambium from the tree 

 trunks, and possibly may take some sap. 



