THE ZOOLOGIST 

Noa. 801.—March. 1908. 

SOME NOTES ON A HABIT OF THE GREAT SPOTTED 
WOODPECKER (DENDROCOPUS MAJOR) IN RE- 
LATION TO A SIMILAR BUT MORE DEVELOPED 
HABIT IN THE CALIFORNIAN WOODPECKER 
(MELANERPES FORMICIVORUS). 
By Epmunp SEtovus. 
As is well known, a certain Woodpecker of North America— 
Melanerpes formicivorus to wit, known commonly as the Cali- 
fornian Woodpecker—has the habit, which, in view of its appa- 
rent uselessness, has been pronounced extraordinary, of studding 
certain trees with acorns by wedging them, in great numbers, 
into holes which it has previously made in the bark for their 
reception. The following notes (made in Sweden) on an analo- 
gous, but less irrational, habit of the Great Spotted Wood- 
pecker (Dendrocopus major) may perhaps throw light on the 
origin and real meaning of the more peculiar one. 
April 23rd, 1907.—To-day, on one of the islands of this lake, 
I was surprised to see, upon the stump of a felled Scotch fir-tree, 
at about a foot from the ground, a fir-cone set, apex upwards, in 
the bark, and so deeply that, had it been sliced off level with the 
surface, one-half of it would have remained where it was. 
Taking it off, 1 found that a groove in the thick bark of the 
Scotch fir had been made for its reception, which just fitted it, 
Zool. 4th ser. vol. XII., March, 1908, H 
