22 THE DOWNY WOODPECKER. 



brilliant old males, and occasionally this species may extend 

 its winter flight as far south as Maryland, Ohio, Illinois and 

 Kansas. 



As I fire into the flock in the mountain ash, they scatter 

 into the surrounding trees, loth to fly away, and emit a 

 loud and prolonged peenk, sounding almost like the note of 

 a hawk. Its song is said to be a pleasing warble. It breeds 

 from northern Maine and the Maritime Provinces north- 

 ward, being common about Moose Factory on James' Bay, 

 and down the Rocky Mountains into Colorado. The nest, 

 placed in trees, is made of sticks and grasses, and contains 

 3-4 eggs, oval, about .97 x -^2, "pale bluish-green in color, 

 spotted, dotted, and lined with brown and umber." 



THE DOWNY WOODPECKER. 



I was never naturally fond of a g-un. 'But for the emer- 

 gencies of natural history I should never have used much 

 powder and shot; but I cannot, like Thoreau, become a nat- 

 uralist without either gun or trap. He must have been on 

 remarkably good terms with the inhabitants of the woods 

 and the fields. 



In the afternoon of this same day of the hoar-frost, I spied 

 a Downy Woodpecker pounding away at a beautiful moun- 

 tain ash in the front yard. Of course he would not hurt 

 the tree, but I was tempted to get the bird; so, notwithstand- 

 ing my poor marksmanship, I started with an old shot-gun 

 to procure the specimen. As usual, the bird was very 

 unsuspecting, and allowed me to come quite near. I fired, 

 but, to my surprise, the bird flew to the next tree, appar- 

 ently without the least surprise. I loaded and fired again, 

 but without securing my specimen, and, it would seem, 

 without even alarming him. Again I fired, and again and 

 again, and yet the bird seemed as safe and self-possessed 



