356 The Acorn-storing Habit of the California Woodpecker. [May, 



able explanation is, that they are preserved for the sake of the 

 grubs they contain so frequently, which, being very small when 

 the acorn falls, grow until they eat the whole interior, when they 

 are a welcome delicacy for the bird. Whether they select only 

 those containing grubs, or put away all they meet with, is uncer- 

 tain ; but as they leave great numbers in the tree untouched, it is 

 probable that these are sound acorns, and often become a supply 

 to the squirrels and the jays." 



Without questioning the foregoing as to the preference of the 

 woodpecker for animal food, and especially for the larvae often 

 contained in the acorns, it is undeniable that, in common with the 

 jays, they are exceedingly fond of fruit, as many an orchardist 

 can testify ; and their predilection for almonds before these tints are 

 quite ripe, is well known to the cost of many almond growers ; 

 that they eat other nuts and also acorns to some extent, I have 

 no doubt. The jays and squirrels are quite likely benefited by 

 the acorn-storing habit of this species of woodpecker; and I 

 have been told that the jay sometimes assists the woodpecker by 

 bringing acorns for the carpintero to deposit in the bark ; and 

 further that sometimes the jays put pebbles in the acorn holes 

 " to fool the woodpeckers ;" but these latter statements, though 

 perhaps true, need confirmation. 



As several woodpeckers are engaged in the work at the same 

 time on the same tree, their operations, as may be imagined, are 

 carried on with a good deal of vivacity and noise, in which the 

 jays become interested, and dart about, adding to the tumult in 

 their own peculiar chattering way. 



The latter have related singularities in the matter of food- 

 storing, as will be seen below. The friend, Mr. Dwindle, whom 

 I have already quoted, states that the large thistle, which is abun- 

 dant in certain places in Alameda county, owes its distribution in 

 part to the jays who take the seeds, which are of good size, and 

 plant them in the ground. He further states that a friend of his, 

 who fed Indian corn to his chickens, had observed the jays fly 

 down and pick up a kernel and then go off a short distance and 

 plant it ; in this way he discovered how it was that stalks of maize 

 came up and were growing where he had never planted. 



Mr. Dwindle has himself seen a jay plant an acorn in the 

 ground of his (Mr. D.'s) house-yard or garden in Oakland. The 

 bird deliberately made a hole, thrust in the acorn, covered it and 



