DOWNY WOODPECKER. 185 



of nearly the same kind of note, quickly reiterated. In fall and 

 ■winter, he associates ■with the Titmouse, Creeper, &c., both in their 

 ■wood and orchard excursions ; and usually leads the van. Of all our 

 Woodpeckers, none rid the apple-trees of so many vermin as this, 

 digging off the moss, ■which the negligence of the proprietor had 

 suffered to accumulate, and probing every crevice. In fact, the orchard 

 is his favorite resort in all seasons; and his industry is unequalled, 

 and almost incessant, ■which is more than can be said of any other 

 species we have. In fall, he is particularly fond of boring the apple- 

 trees for insects, digging a circular hole through the bark, just sufficient 

 to admit his bill, after that a second, third, &c., in pretty regular 

 horizontal circles round the body of the tree ; these parallel circles of 

 holes are often not more than an inch, or an inch and a half, apart, and 

 sometimes so close together, that I have covered eight or ten of them 

 at once ■with a dollar. From nearly the surface of the ground, up to 

 the first fork, and sometimes far beyond it, the whole bark of many apple- 

 trees is perforated in this manner, so as to appear as if made by 

 successive discharges of buck-shot; and our little Woodpecker, the 

 subject of the present account, is the principal perpetrator of this 

 supposed mischief. I say supposed, for so far from these perforations 

 of the bark being ruinous, they are not only harmless, but, I have good 

 reason to believe, really beneficial to the health and fertility of the tree. 

 I leave it to the philosophical botanist to account for this ; but the fact 

 I am confident of. In more than fifty orchards, which I have myself 

 carefully examined, those trees which were marked by the Woodpecker 

 (for some trees they never touch, perhaps because not "penetrated by 

 insects), ■were uniformly the most thriving, and seemingly the most pro- 

 ductive ; many of these were upwards of sixty years old, their trunks 

 completely covered with holes, ■while the branches were broad, luxuri- 

 ant, and loaded with fruit. Of decayed trees, more than three-fourths 

 were untouched by the Woodpecker. Several intelligent farmers, with 

 whom I have conversed, candidly acknowledge the truth of these 

 observations, and with justice look upon these birds as beneficial ; but 

 the most common opinion is, that they bore the tree to suck the sap, 

 and so destroy its vegetation ; though pine and other resinous trees, on 

 the juices of which it is not pretended they feed, are often found equally 

 perforated. Were the sap of the tree their object, the saccharine juice 

 of the birch, the sugar-maple, and several others, would be much more 

 inviting, because more sweet_ and nourishing, than that of either the 

 pear or apple-tree ; but I have not observed one mark on the former, 

 for ten thousand that ma,j be seen on the latter ; besides, the early 

 part of spring is the season when the sap flows most abundantly ; where- 

 as it is only during the months of September, October, and November, 

 that Woodpeckers are seen so indefatigably engaged in orchards, probing 



