328 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



part of this charge I shall not pretend to deny ; how far the other is 

 founded in truth will appear in the sequel. Of all our Woodpeckers 

 none rids the apple trees of so many vermin as this, digging off the 

 moss which the negligence of the proprietor had suffered to accumu- 

 late, and probing every crevice. In fact the orchard is his favourite 

 resort in all seasons ; and his industry is unequalled, and almost in- 

 cessant, which is more than can be said of any other species we have. 

 In the autumn he is particularly fond of boring the apple trees for in- 

 sects, digging a circular hole through the bark just sufficient to ad- 

 mit his bill, after that a second, third, &x. in pretty regular horizon- 

 tal 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 some- 

 times 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 are perforated in this manner, so as to appear as if made 

 by successive discharges of buck-shot ; and our little Woodpecker 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 they are really 

 beneficial to the health and fertility of the tree. 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 productive; many of these were 

 upwards of sixty years old, their trunks completely covered with holes, 

 while the branches were broad, luxuriant, and loaded with fruit. Of 

 decayed trees more than three fourths were untouched by the Wood- 

 pecker. Several intelligent farmers, with whom I have conversed, 

 candidly acknowledge the truth of these observations, and with jus- 

 tice look upon these birds as beneficial ; but the most common opinion 

 • is that they bore the trees to suck the sap, and so destroy its vege- 

 tation ; 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 may be seen on the latter; besides the early part of 

 spring is the season when the sap flows most abundantly; whereas 

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

 that Woodpeckers are seen so indefatigably engaged in orchards, 

 probing every crack and crevice, boring through the bark, and what 

 is worth remarking, chiefly on the south and south-west sides of the 

 tree, for the eggs and larvae deposited there by the countless swarms 

 of summer insects. These if suffered to remain, would prey upon 

 the very vitals, if I may so express it, of the tree, and in the suc- 

 ceeding summer give birth to myriads more of their race, equally 

 destructive. 



Here then is a whole species, I may say genus, of birds, which Pro- 

 vidence seems to have formed for the protection of our fruit and forest 

 trees from the ravages of vermin; which every day destroy millions 

 of these noxious insects that would otherwise blast the hopes of the 

 husbandman ; and which even promote the fertility of the tree ; and 

 in return, are proscribed by those who ought to have been their pro- 



