Bird Study 69 



THE DOWNY WOODPECKER 

 TeacJter's Story 



I RIEND Downy is the name this attractive little neighbor 

 has earned, because it is so friendly to those of us who 

 love trees. Watch it as it hunts each crack and crevice 

 ■ of the bark of your favorite apple or shade tree, seeking 

 * assiduously for cocoons and insects hiding there, and 



you will soon, of your own accord, call it friend; you 

 will soon love its black and white uniform, which consists of a black coat 

 speckled and barred with white and whitish gray vest and trousers. The 

 front of the head is black and there is a black streak extending backward 

 from the eye with a white streak above and also below it. The male has 

 a vivid red patch on the back of the head, but his wife shows no such 

 giddiness; plain black and white are good enough for her. In both 

 sexes the throat and breast are white, the middle tail feathers black, 

 while the side tail feathers are white, barred with black at their tips. 



The downy has a way of alighting low down on a tree trunk or at the 

 base of a larger branch and climbing upward in a jerky fashion ; it never 

 runs about over the tree nor does it turn around and go down head first, 

 like the nuthatch ; if it wishes to go down a short distance it accomplishes 

 this by a few awkward, backward hops; but when it really wishes to 

 descend, it flies off and down. The downy, as other woodpeckers, has a 

 special arrangement of its physical machinery to enable it to climb 

 trees in its own manner. In order to grasp the bark on the side of the 

 tree more firmly, its fourth toe is turned backward 

 to work as companion with the thumb. Thus it is 

 able to clutch the bark as with a pair of nippers, 

 two claws in front and two claws behind; and 

 as another aid, the tail is arranged to prop the 

 bird, like a bracket. The tail is rounded in 

 shape and the middle feathers have rather strong _ . , _ , , 

 quills; but the secret of the adhesion of the tail Friend Downy s foot. 

 to the bark lies in the great profusion of barbs which, at the edge 

 of the feathers, offer bristling tips, and when applied to the side 

 of the tree act like a wire brush with all the wires pushing downward. 

 This explains why the woodpecker cannot go backward without lifting 

 the tail. 



But even more wonderful than this, is the mechanism by which 

 the downy and hairy woodpeckers get their food, which consists 

 largely of wood-borers or larvae working under the bark. When the 

 woodpecker wishes to get a grub in the wood, it seizes the bark firmly 

 with its feet, uses its tail as a brace, throws its head and upper part of 

 the body as far back as possible, and then drives a powerful blow 

 with its strong beak. The beak is adapted for just this purpose, 

 as it is wedge-shaped at the end, and is used like a mason's drill 

 sometimes, and sometimes like a pick. When the bird uses its beak as a 

 pick, it strikes hard, deliberate blows and the chips fly; but when it is 

 drilling, it strikes rapidly and not so hard and quickly drills a small, 

 deep hole leading directly to the burrow of the grub. When finally the 

 grub is reached, it would seem well nigh impossible to pull it out 

 through a hole which is too small and deep to admit of the beak 



