LAND BIRDS. 349 
stomach contents, consisted almost entirely of wild berries and seeds, with 
a small amount of unidentifiable vegetable matter classed as rubbish. 
The fruits taken were those of uncultivated plants and their consumption 
caused no loss whatever to the fruit grower. The only item weighing in 
any manner against the good character of the bird was the presence of 
seeds of the poison ivy and poison sumac which were found in the stomachs 
of 21 birds and sometimes in large numbers. These berries are eaten for 
the nutritious, waxy pulp which surrounds the seed, and the seeds them- 
selves, which are usually ejected by the mouth, are found to germinate 
just as well afterwards. It is evident that these noxious plants owe their 
wide distribution in large part to the birds which feed upon the berries, 
and evidently the Downy Woodpecker does his part of this work. 
In its consumption of insects the bird is decidedly useful, since it not 
only eats many of the common pests of the orchard, but it visits plantations 
of young trees, shrubs and even vines and hunts out injurious insects which 
might otherwise gain a foothold and cause serious trouble. During the 
winter it searches persistently for the hidden pupz and cocoons of various 
insects and has been seen to drill through the silken cocoons of the cecropia 
moth and devour the pup within. It is credited also with the destruction 
of the larve of the codling-moth which often spend the winter hidden 
beneath a thin scale of bark or a dry leaf cemented to the tree, and Dr. 
Trimble’s account of his discovery of this fact, in Morris county, N. J., is 
worth repeating here. He writes “‘I was gratified in being able to ascertain 
how he finds where to peck through the scales so as to be sure to hit the 
appleworm that is so snugly concealed beneath. * * * But what does 
he do? By sounding, tap, tap, tap, just as the physician learns the con- 
dition of the lungs of his patient by what he calls percussion. The bird 
uses his beak generally three times in quick succession—sometimes oftener; 
then tries another.’? One stomach was found to contain a codling-moth 
larva and some beetles; another held one beetle, the heads of two codling- 
moth larve and three small borers (Treatise on the Insect Enemies of 
Fruit and Fruit Trees, pp. 116-117). 
In its general habits the Downy Woodpecker quite closely resembles its 
larger relative the Hairy Woodpecker, but, as already seen, it is more 
likely to frequent the open country, and especially the orchards and trees 
about houses. In nesting it also selects smaller trees or limbs, and the nest 
is more often placed low down, often only two or three feet above the ground. 
The eggs are commonly four or five, occasionally only three or as many as 
six. They are pure white, unspotted, and average .77 by .58 inches. The 
period of incubation is about twelve days. It begins nesting several weeks 
later than the Hairy Woodpecker and eggs are not likely to be found 
before the middle of May in southern Michigan, although in one instance 
we found a nest of young in Ingham county May 8 (1897). On the other 
hand, fresh eggs are frequently found the last week in May and occasionally 
evenin June. Itseems probable that only one brood is reared in the season, 
but birds which lose the first set of eggs are very likely to lay again. 
The hole for the eggs is excavated by the birds themselves, and although 
the same hole may be used year after year, probably in most cases a new 
hole is made for each new set of eggs. Frequently single birds are found 
excavating holes in midwinter, and they resort regularly to these holes to 
roost throughout the year. i. 
Of the voice of this bird E. P. Bicknell says: ‘In addition to its usual 
short sharp note the Downy Woodpecker has a rattling cry which starts 
