104 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. 



insects form at least two-thirds of his subsistence ; and his stomach 

 is scarcely ever found without them. He searches for them with a 

 dexterity and intelligence, I may safely say, more than human : he 

 perceives, by the exterior appearance of the bark, where they lurk 

 below ; when he is dubious, he rattles vehemently on the outside 

 with his bill, and his acute ear distinguishes the terrified vermin 

 shrinking within to their inmost retreats, where his pointed and 

 barbed tongue soon reaches them. The masses of bugs, cater- 

 pillars, and other larvae, which I have taken from the stomachs 

 of these birds, have often surprised me. These larvae, it should be 

 remembered, feed not only on the buds, leaves, and blossoms, but 

 on the very vegetable life of the tree, — the alburnum, or newly 

 forming bark and wood. The consequence is, that the whole 

 branches and whole trees decay under the silent ravages of these 

 destructive vermin ; witness the late destruction of many hundred 

 acres of pine-trees in the north-eastern parts of South Carolina, 

 and the thousands of peach-trees that yearly decay from the same 

 cause. Will any one say, that, taking half a dozen, or half a 

 hundred, apples from a tree, is equally ruinous with cutting it 

 down ? or that the services of a useful animal should not be 

 rewarded with a small portion of that which it has contributed to 

 preserve ? We are told, in the benevolent language of the Scrip- 

 tures, not to muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the 

 corn ; and why should not the same generous liberality be ex- 

 tended to this useful family of birds, which forms so powerful a 

 phalanx against the inroads of many millions of destructive ver- 

 min?" 



About the middle of May, this species pairs, and soon 

 commences excavating a hole in a tree, either in the woods 

 or orchard, as he is not particular in his choice. This work 

 is done by both the birds, who labor with industry and 

 cheerfulness until the excavation is finished ; this is from 

 fourteen to eighteen inches deep, and, like those of other 

 woodpeckers, is roomy at the bottom, and tapering gradually 

 to the entrance, which is only large enough for the comfort- 

 able passage of the bird : it is not lined, but the bottom is 

 partly covered with chips from the sides of the hole. The 



