124 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[March IS, 



$iihji[Hl Jjiporti. 



THE YELLOW-BELLIED WOODPECKER. 



Ii, us . 



I SEE (i:> with"lhcsperii ofnropht cj that the FolllSB'l! ami 

 Stream is destined to be an encyclopedia of natural 

 history, and the only one in the English language. To sus- 

 tain that reputation', it is only necessary I lint the sportsman 

 ■naturalist and compfler of tads, Unite their efforts on this 

 common or neutral ground. The sportsman must rise to 

 the plane of the naturalist., theu both niusi be lifted from 

 savage tu civilized lite, while the compiler must come down 

 from the high stool he lias mounted, and in a manh way 

 acknowledge his indebtedness to the others, and to the labors 

 of other men. The Sooner this is done the better fur all 

 parties, since it is plain thai, the sportsman tourist now car- 

 ries Into the woods the highest grade of intellect, which, 

 tired with the excitement of the chase, gives life, interest and 

 humor to a narrative thai no tarry -at iionu-, however senti 

 mental or scientific, can reach, f would pol lie considered 

 tueddlesoine or inclined tO "thrust my n»se" into other men's 

 business, bu1 I often read an article in this paper lo the sig- 

 nificance of which 1 might possibly add a trifle, and the same 

 amount perhaps to its value as an historic record. My object 



is simply to preserve Strong points of character frequently 

 overlooked, and which, once true, are forever true, in the 

 orders ol life below us. 



In running toy eye oyer the list of "Birds Of Maine," 

 substantially the birds of New England. 1 noticed that the 

 yellow bellied Woodpecker v. as passed over with a few 

 words, just what every author gives the bird, showing most 

 Conclusively that ornithology as a science had not tit all 

 reached his character, habits and peculiar instincts, lam 

 obliged, to act down first, thai this is the most destructive 

 bird in our climate. I have seen the best trees in an apple 

 orchard destroyed, white the owner looked sadly atthe trees 

 ceasing to bear and dying, not once dreaming that so small 

 a bird could cause it. "Sometimes called a sap sucker." 

 falsely so- called. II, Acs „,< *»,-/•/>/ ujpparntiW. Boring 

 for worms is often asserted and stoutly defended. False 

 again, he never bores a wormy tree, and' besides ho lias no 

 barbed tongue like bis tribe lor pulling Out a worm when he 

 gets almost to it. Still worse, he kills a tree leaving no mark 

 of his bill on the wood equal to the scratch of a pin. Then 

 what under heaven does he do? 



Well, be kills the tree most certainly. 1 have seen the 

 white birch cut off. or rather broken off. twenty feet, from 

 the ground, in more cases than I can number, all his work. 



■■" ■ ii tin yellow hireb destroyed in the same manner; 

 branches of the' tree cut off', shriveled branches struggling 

 for life, but dying. 1 have seen a tree girdled with spots 

 twenty feet from the ground, then again a few feet lower. 

 then below that, repeating the process io the roots, leaving 

 a dead and dry section above each belt. .1 Uavi iceo I- 

 white pine destroyed in the same way. I have seen an elm 

 tree eighteen inches in diameter, whose trunk of twelve I'cel 

 was spoiled with "gimlet holes" in the bark nearly one inch 

 thick, and where lor ten summers past 1 have shot the pests 

 nud thereby saved the tree. But this was a "honey dew" elm, 



of thicker.' darker, greener foliage than hundreds of others 

 in the neighborhood! and from the tips of the leaves a drop 

 of sweet liquid falls— hence the name. 



What oilier crimes against property this bird may be 

 guilty of, I leave others fo discover. What I baveseenafty 



one can see if they have the same opportunity. The bird 



crowds closely tin- snow line in its northern migrations, and 

 although leaving his "trade mark" on many trees, does little 

 damage in Massachusetts. But further north, where the 

 bird breeds, whole orchards are severely injured, if not de- 

 -trnyed. by them: .-careelv ,i in,- , an be found without the 

 gim'h-i holes in the bark, abandoned without enlargement 

 for some- distaste of the sap, Cn thai ease the wound in the 

 soft inner bark would grow over, while the rough outside 

 bark would show t In- boles ever afterward. The first im- 

 pres ion might well In- that -wool-apple tn-e- would lie 

 selected, but the rule is not reliable, since tin- sour, "puck 

 cry" crab apple seldom escapes. 



'The bird usually commences operations carlt in May, on 

 the smooth, green, healthy bark of a tree just beginning lo 

 bear fruit, and just as the bark swells out with the sofl 

 pulp for tbe year's deposit of wood. With true philosophy 



he invariably begins just hdow ii tfdioot of branches, 



whi-n- the upward flow of si|i N retarded by knotty libers 

 above, and where the accumulation presses, causing the 

 -ap to flow mor,- freely than at any other place, [f the taste 

 i- satisfactory he bores again, then returns to the flrst, lap 

 ping out the sap with a tongue fringed with hair on both 

 side-, meeting at the point. This i- the key to all bis eceen- 



IHchabits rim- alternately pecking in-w holes, and lap- 

 ping out those already made, he 800B uh 'dll - a Ii i e w it Ii 

 bleeding wounds. Then perhaps (lie- oil' to other trees pick- 

 uiir bugs and worms from the hark, hut soon returns to the 

 Howing sap where threi quarters of the day is -pent, lftbe 

 heal ot summer dries a hole In- at once enlarges it laterally, 

 causing it to bleed afresh. Tints by a process constantly in- 

 termittent, th. work is carried on often by a whole family 

 in turn. 



In this wa\ the bole- approach each other till tin' How of 

 sip i- so diminished thai tin- leaves Fade and the fruit witt- 

 ers on the stem or fall- to the ground. Perhaps not half the 

 apple trees attacked are killed outright, bul the birch tree 



invariably dies. The injury i- in degree, and in every pos- 

 sible degree, from the round gimlet hole, w hich is not fatal, 

 Lo the broad "countersink" Which kills the branch or the 

 whole tree. 1 must allude herctothe fact that when the 

 woodpecker leaves tie- tree. ,-, hununing-bfrd invariably 

 drops down from a twigou which he has been, waiting his 

 turn, thrusts his tongue into the holes in rapid iucccssion 

 and darts oil' the moment I'ieus appears. 



I think tin- ivadei will acknowledge my first assertion 

 -us knitted, ami also that this species i- misnamed 'a -ap 

 -or -k, i. " although at a certain season sap is a prime article 

 of food, and that In- i- more of an insect than a worm eater, 

 lacking the necessary machinery tor teaching worm- in Un- 

 true picarian style. 



To return to introductory remarks 1 trusl tin- sportsman 

 uaturalist will nol feel that to "glean after other reapers" 

 in natural history i- beneath the dignity of the Bharpesl in- 

 tellect- in society. The subject is not yol exhausted, nor 

 will il be for main days to come. Another thing, there 



should In- a free Interchange ot thought among v rile) - A 

 postal card will ass and unswei many truestiou^ where Ihe 

 record of a fact has obscure point- My skull is thick as ■■ 

 board, 1 acknowledge: yours maybe in spot--, in ant ease 



lei us be neighborly and abolish fictitious names. Record 

 every natural fad that comes under your eye. even at the 

 risk of feeling the chagrin I have mole than once felt on 

 finding what 1 supposed new lo ihe world was new only to 

 myself. One thing further. Let no man expect to see all 

 these things in it minute. The experiences of a lifetime, 

 and the fruit of its researches arc often embodied in a single 

 page pf record, and it is only from 

 thai we can sift what is reliable, a 

 the false. 



A word of explanation for using Ffctts 

 is in ornithology substantial agreement as to genera, while 

 species and variety afford a boundless field on which young 

 ambition spreads itself with wonderful effect. Distinctions 



rate tin: 



There 



l wonovEeio-ae 



without differences, as synonyms fully demonstrate, have 

 been multiplied about as long as il will pay. I herein give 

 a "difference" in this bird" without a "distinction," and 

 tbrnw the gate wide open for my friends above referred to 

 to step in and reach "immortality ' by . shorter" cut than 

 USUal. f'ivc us. please, a teim (not as long as your arm) 

 embodying some idea of its character anil habits, else 

 must give it up, and fall back on yellow-bellied wood — no 

 — bark-pecker, very near the place from which we started 

 B. HonsfoHD. 

 ,u. Mass. 



WINTER BIRDS. 



i liol'NIl Boston Ibis winter there ha- been an uuusua 

 .V flight or birds, especially several specie- that have 



noi been seen in its vicinity (excepting a few scatter - " 



l-t lilt. - 



nibs 



of 1 



-pa 



specimens) f 



been taken here during the pasl three 



never he I'm iv Leon known to pas- I be w 



stance, 1 know of an authentic case ol 



cowbirds in the middle 



in en severe, cobins, 



ruinpcd warblers bavi 



Less numbers. I saw a red winged blackbird H 



February, and bluebirds arrived before the 1st 



I have taken many while-winged crossbills and 

 beaks, bul the American crossbill ha- been scare 

 32d of February I shot forty redpolls out of 

 about thirty of them being Greenland or great 

 Redpolls have been hi re io great numbers, and 



Several birds hat 



at ha\ 

 For ii 



ile- 



al -In 



,-an lps 



eh 



'-bunt- 



llo'cki . 



which was ahotThy a 'fiend accompanying me. Thinking 



this a remarkable winter in regard to the number of birds 



visiting Us. 1 have deemed it worthy to write to you about 

 it. W. \ 



Boston. March T 



1 here send vou a li-l of birds observed during the winter 

 months, as follows: Robin, Turdm wigratmim; bluebird. 



Suiliu 



White 1 



stalis: 

 allied 



black- 

 mil hat 



gold tin 



'/,,/;„.■ < 

 Passer 



h'ippin 





Ml /. 





<!„■;. ii., soeialis; English 



Corvun amiricanm; downy wood- 



•ed headed woodpecker. Mrlum i\« " 



ringed woodpecker. Qola/j>U>s aura- 



W. Cm. ClI.VKK. 



A friend 



of 



other 1 



i-h 1 



ill 



Kobiii 



am 



a 



winter 



and 



se 



sparro 



v- h 





white 



lWl 1 



vn> 



ary 25. 



1 Ii 



iti 





HI lit 



.1 







III 



in, shot a h,gh hole eii January 2.1 in 



as seen al WoodsuJe a couple of week- ago. 

 cw meadow larks hay.- 'been an-und all 

 -al large tlock- ot nn-adows larks and toy 

 ppcared during the past week. A large 

 een by a friend at Locusl Vallev on Janu 

 enrd of three being kilted in this neighbor 

 luary. Will you ideas,, inform me if the 

 about which an article appeared in your last 

 he lark bunting, nbuudant here during the winter. 



Tip 



I II TV. I'ell. SB, 



A pewec {flttyorn-k fusrm*) was observed her.- to-day, an 



unusually early dale For the aiiital of this ipecies « 



Mu-rouie I 



THE BIRDS OF MAINE. 



With Annotations of their Comparative Abundance. 

 Dates of Migration, Breeding Habits, etc. 



BY KVT5RKTT SMtTtT 



r> I-: : A.VOCETS ami BiH,T.S. 



ra am&icam And., Ridg. 5(56, 

 t from the West. Rare. Key 

 thot on the eastern shore of the 

 les, and sent to a taxidermist in 

 i killed at ''Simonton's Cove," 

 d county, Maine, November 5, 

 he collection of the Natural His 



'-l£n(t,, 



FAMILY lif.CURVll 



214, Avocet— jfocti 



Cs. 600.— Accidental 

 era! specimens have 1 

 Bav of Fundy t 



St. Join 



X. B. 



Cape E] 



ISiS. nuditssKlni&now 



torv Society, of I'orllan 



215. Black-necked i 



JIi,,l,U,tr,p„„ ,»e.r/,v/ee. y | 



ilant from the South oi 

 lias recorded a specimi 

 Croix Eiver in 1862. 

 recorded (Bull. N. O. C. 

 men by Mr: John Ellis, 

 of the Bay of Fundy, i 

 rarely found on the Net 



Family Phac 



SffV, Red Phalarope— Phalwro 

 563, Cs. 604. — Not uucommon i 

 grations, Mr. Boardnnm report' 

 region of the St. Croix River 

 Brewer, Maine, informs me that 

 were shot at Ilermon Pond, 1 

 1881, and they were probably tin 

 although the spring migration or 

 mav have been mere.lv straggle 



217. Northei 

 Ridg. 564, Cs. (i 

 migrations. Pr 



Vc 



m rrfgrkollh kaA.; 

 31.— Accidental vis- 

 ire. Mr. Boardman 

 t taken near the mouth of the St. 



Mr. Montague Chamberlain has 

 Vpril 1882) the capture of a speci- 



t Mace's Bav, on the eastern shore 

 September, 1880. The species is 

 England coast. 



PhAIjAROPBS. 



/.,//.•,./■/</* And.; Ridg. 

 g the coast during mi- 

 it -some breed" in the 

 Jr. Manly Hardy, of 

 pair, male and female. 

 oliscot county, in May. 

 for breeding purposes. 



;opo 



Phala 



ed • 



near < 

 tern 

 to It 

 thai most resen 

 although their 1 

 mors m«re habi 

 coast. "Rock 

 local name, 1 h 

 218. Wilson'.- 

 pvs trilmm Kid 

 ropes alight it 

 Scai-horo, Jum 

 phenson, Esq., 

 species above n 



whe 



i the 



m Aud.; 



last during 

 islands. I 

 des, at, sea 

 are locally 



)ipe 



lined. 



Famiia 



round upon our 

 r and less common, 

 , the phalarope. 



la And. ; 8ky<tm 

 re. 1 saw three phala- 

 ver, near 'Black Rock," 

 ipanion, William H. Ste 

 id it proved to be of the 



Rails. 



319. King Bail— BaUm 'i<>/<i„* And.. Ridg. .itiil, Ls. 6T6. 

 —Rare. The only record of the occurrence of this species 

 here, for which I can vouch, is that of a single specimen, 

 (hot by my Mend Alpheus G. Rogers, Esq.. at the Spur 

 " lolicr 1, 1881, the skin of which is 

 on of Ihe Portland Natural History 



wink River ma 



c:l i 



' Cla 



s have hi 

 shot i 



- Rail— Ral&us crepitans And.. Ridg. 571, Cs. 

 Vn occasional visitant from the South. Speci- 

 n taken at various times on the coast, and one 

 Sebattua Pond," in Androscoggin county, in 

 >uru, Maine. For this sole 

 •of. ,T. T, Stanton, of Lew - 

 the skin is preserved. 

 ptiiaMWi And., Ridg, B73, 

 evils. Formerlt fibandant 

 . during the last" few years. 

 the autumn of 1881, when rails of several 



■ Mr. C F. Nason. of An 

 inland record 1 am indebted to F 

 iston. Manic, in whose collection 



aai, Virgmia Rail-i XaUw <tm 



C -. il i. — Not very common. B 

 but apparently not very commo 



species were remarkably abundant here. 

 •;•.'•.>. Carolina Bail, Sora tisal—QrtygotiHitmmrttfina And.. 



Portllllll r„,-l/),.i lii.lli .iM. ('-. loll. Common. Ibeed- 



Ahundant in favorite localities during Beptember asd Octo- 

 ber, 



22:!. Vellotv Rail — Ortygofoetra nawborrutiusfi And.: Pm 

 ;.,,..■ ,...,„/„,/-,„, „s,\ Kidg.'-Sr."). Cs. nsu, —Not uncommon bui 

 never abundant Probably breed-. 



•'•.'■I .1 ineii-a Kail. Black Rail — Pory im jium/ir, is \ud . 

 Ridg, 576 i s. 681. — During the autumn of 1**1 great nuni- 

 hei-s o| Carolina iail- >v,ro -hot in the vicinity ot Portland, 

 Me as also numerous Virginia rails and vi How rail-, and a 

 kin"' rail. Upon the fourth of October; while ;ny friends. 

 Jonas Hamilton and Upheus O. Rogers, of this city, were 

 -hooting in Searboro. Mr. Hamilton's setter dog brought tn 

 him, alive and unhurt, a black rail. The bird was prohablt 

 of the species Piirziif" i'iii-'!'-< /.--/.n. Iloth gentlemen have a 

 familiar knowledge of our common species of rails and 



especially noted that this bird differed from ti sora' or 



Carolina rail and the yellow rail in form a- well a- in 

 plumage. Unfortunately the specimen was not preserved, 



and it may possibly have been an instance of melanism of 

 the young yellOW rail, 



335. Purple Gallinule— OaMnv-la wartfiMd Ami.: Tdnornin 

 „.„, /;„,;„ Kidg. .->?s. C-. 6S5.— Accidental visitanl ftom the 

 Souih Tiii- specie- has been recorded as of occurrence as 

 New Brunswick (v, Bull. N. D. C (J 



far north and east a 

 July, 1881, aud April 



Mr. Boardman man 

 the vicinity of Calais, 

 (Bull N O. C. V., p. 342 the caj 

 near Hootld.ay, Maim-, by Mr. Jo 

 bird was "taken alivi and afleitvan 



226. Common Gallinule, Flora 

 cUlorepvs Aud • (fallirvula gaJeata, Ridg. 



dental visitanl from the South. Mr Bi 



specimen some year- since that was shol 



Cs. 686. — Not vert common, but usually 

 numbers during the autumn migration 



lis li-t of the bird- found ill 



II. A. I'uniie ha- recorded 



,ure of a bird in !!s77 



. (J. Nicke,-on. Thi- 



i Saiiinule— Gattinida 

 ?fl,Cs. 684.— Acci- 

 rdman obtained n 



n Calais, Maine, 

 - And.. Ridg. -,80, 

 Centring in limited 

 But little known 

 here and the name P&llh »,"", or tvaler-heii. i- not used in 

 Maine. 



I hate heard ii Locally termed -111111 peter' aud "blue 

 marsh hen in Maine The name coot, properly applied only 

 to this ohd, is erroneously used in Maim-, as well 09 through- 

 .11; New England, to designate anj one of the three species 

 rs so abundant along this coast. 



v.: Di 1 t<-. C1.1.-1 tso Sw vn-. 

 . , , , \ 1 o I : Old ■""■ 1 



.-...,.,-,., c«, 089.— Rare strag- 

 1 South. An immature swan of thi- 

 spi-cies was -hot l.v Mr. Win William,, of Boudoiiiham, 

 Me- . in tin Kennebec River, near Brick Island, at the 



Of surf do 



1'AMtia An 



338, Common 1 



;,.,.,, is Kidg. 588 



gler Iron 



