DAMAGE TO WOODEN STBTJCTTJBES. 13 



After pole No. 6390 broke as above shown it was reset and tested as a 30-foot pole, 

 and it broke at the new ground line (40J inches circumference) under 1,000 pounds 

 corrected load. It had a 2^-inch shell at break. Estimated breaking weight as a 

 30-foot pole, 2,500 pounds. 



Pole No. 6325 was sound at the ground and set in wet rock hole, with about 10 inches 

 of clay on top. At 3,000 pounds, actual reading, the dynamometer slipped. The 

 load was applied for 300 pounds more, when the rope broke and test was abandoned. 



Pole No. 6372, at 1,100 pounds, corrected load, gave way at ground, but did not 

 quite break off. There were 10 woodpecker holes between 15 and 20 feet above 

 ground, as follows: 



13 feet above ground 3 by 3 inches, 4 inches deep. 



17 feet above ground 3 by 3 inches, 5 inches deep. 



18 feet above ground 3 by 3 inches, 3 inches deep. 



19 feet above ground 3 by 3 inches, 5 inches deep. 



At fifth gain, 30-inch circumference, 6 smaller holes. 



It appears, therefore, that the attack of poles by these birds is not as serious as one 

 would be prone to believe, and, taking into account the great good that they do in 

 eating insects, the destruction of our feathered friends can by no means be justified 

 by the injury they do to pole-line construction. 



DAMAGE TO FENCES AND BUILDINGS. 



The downy, hairy, Texas, California, and red-headed woodpeck- 

 ers and both the yellow-shafted and the red-shafted nicker are 

 known to excavate holes in fence and gate posts, but the loss is much 

 less than in case of telephone poles. Indeed, it is probable that in 

 most cases where woodpeckers nest in fence posts about yards and 

 farms the owner is glad to have them there because of the number 

 of insects they destroy. To say the least, it would be an advantage 

 to have them nest in fence posts rather than orchard trees, for instance, 

 and they would still visit the trees to glean insects. 



As woodpeckers excavate poles and fence posts, it is not surprising 

 that they attack other wooden structures. The usual type of injury 

 of this class is drilling holes into cornices or under eaves of houses or 

 piercing the walls of barns and sheds. 



Buildings that are unoccupied most of the time, as schoolhouses 

 and churches, are frequently defaced, church towers or steeples being 

 favorite points of attack. The red-headed woodpecker is an old 

 offender in this respect, and a case is recorded 1 where in one season 

 22 of these birds were killed one after another while attempting to 

 make a nest in a church steeple. During the caretaker's absence a 

 pair finally completed a nest and reared their young. The red-bellied 

 woodpecker also sometimes makes holes in houses, but the nickers — 

 the yellow-shafted in the East and the red-shafted in the West — are 

 the woodpeckers that show the strongest predilection for boring into 

 buildings. Often many holes are made in the same wall. (Pl.V,fig. 1.) 

 Apparently the birds learn little by experience, but keep on drilling 



1 Stroop, L. J., American Naturalist, IV, 692, 1870. 



