THE RED-HEADED WOODPECKER. 275 



With the exception of the Mocking-bird, I know no species so gay and 

 frolicksome. Indeed, their whole life is one of pleasure. They find a 

 superabundance of food everywhere, as well as the best facilities for raising 

 their broods. The little labour which they perform is itself a source of 

 enjoyment, for it is undertaken either with an assurance of procuring the 

 nicest dainties, or for the purpose of excavating a hole for the reception of 

 themselves, their eggs, or their families. They do not seem to be much 

 afraid of man, although they have scarcely a more dangerous enemy. When 

 alighted on a fence-stake by the road, or in a field, and one approaches them, 

 they gradually move sidewise out of sight, peeping now and then to discover 

 your intention; and when you are quite close and opposite, lie still until you 

 are past, when they hop to the top of the stake, and rattle upon it with their 

 bill, as if to congratulate themselves on the success of their cunning. Should 

 you approach within arm's length, which may frequently be done, the 

 Woodpecker flies to the next stake or the second from you, bends his head 

 to peep, and rattles again, as if to provoke you to a continuance of what 

 seems to him excellent sport. He alights on the roof of the house, hops 

 along it, beats the shingles, utters a cry, and dives into your garden to pick 

 the finest strawberries which he can discover. 



I would not recommend to any one to trust their fruit to the Red-heads; 

 for they not only feed on all kinds as they ripen, but destroy an immense 

 quantity besides. No sooner are the cherries seen to redden, than these 

 birds attack them. They arrive on all sides, coming from a distance of 

 miles, and seem the while to care little about the satisfaction you might feel 

 in eating some also. Trees of this kind are stripped clean by them. When 

 one has alighted and tasted the first cherry, he utters his call-note, jerks his 

 tail, nods his head, and at it again in an instant. When fatigued, he loads 

 his bill with one or two, and away to his nest, to supply his young. 



It is impossible to form any estimate of the number of these birds seen in 

 the United States during the summer months; but this much I may safely 

 assert, that a hundred have been shot upon a single cherry-tree in one day. 

 Pears, peaches, apples, figs, mulberries, and even peas, are thus attacked. I 

 am not disposed to add to these depredations those which they commit upon 

 the corn, either when young and juicy, or when approaching maturity, lest I 

 should seem too anxious to heap accusations upon individuals, who, although 

 culprits, are possessed of many undeniably valuable qualities. 



But to return: — They feed on apples as well as on other fruit, and carry 

 them off by thrusting into them their sharp bills when open, with all their 

 force, when they fly away to a fence-stake or a tree, and devour them at 

 leisure. They have another bad habit, which is that of sucking the eggs of 

 small birds. For this purpose, they frequently try to enter the boxes of the 



