»6 



THE WOODPECKER. 



Attention has been drawn to the loss to which Cocoa planters in 

 the Oastleton Garden district are subject through the Woodpecker. 



The Woodpecker is on the list of birds that are protected by law 

 during the whole year. Under Law 32 of 1885 it is forbidden to kill, 

 wound or take these birds at any time, and their eggs are also pro- 

 tected. 



It feeds not only on seeds and berries but on insects as well, and 

 and it is as an insectivorous bird that it is placed under protection. 



Gosse in his " Birds of Jamaica," says: — u This is among the 

 commonest of Jamaican birds, being abundant in all situations, from the 



shores to the summits ... His food is not confined to boring 



larvae; the large red ants, so common in the woods, I have found numer- 

 ous in his stomach; and at other times, hard strong seeds enclosed in a 

 scarlet pulpy skin. In March we sometimes find him filled with the 

 white pulp and oval seeds of the soursop. He is said to feed on the 

 beautiful cherries (Cordia collococca) which in brilliant bunches are 

 ripe at the same season; and I have seen him engaged in picking off the 

 pretty crimson berries, that hang like clusters of minature grapes from 

 the fid die wood (Oitherexylum). Sometimes he extracts the pulp of the 

 orange, having cut a hole through the rind; and mangoes he eats in the 

 Autumn. He does damage to the sugar-cane, by chiselling away the 

 woody exterior, and sucking out the juice, and gets shot for this feat 

 by the owners." 



^So complaints have so far been received from Orange growers 

 that the Woodpecker damages Citrus fruits, but the extract from Gosse 

 suggests that there is danger, and attention should be directed to this 

 point by those interested in the industry. 



Information is however to hand that it has acquired a taste for 

 Cocoa-beans, and that while rats destroy only tipe pods, the Woodpecker 

 attacks the pods in all stages of growth, causing the destruction of 

 thousands of pods every season. 



Correspondence is invited from planters on the following points : — 



What districts of the island suffer through the Woodpecker ? 

 What kind of damage is done ? 

 What amount of loss is suffered ? 

 At what seasons of the year is damage done ? 

 What kinds of insects, fruits, seeds, etc., does it feed on ? 

 Is the good done by destruction of insects more than counterbal- 

 anced by the loss of fruit ? 



Is it wise to protect the bird at all ? 



If so, is it necessary to protect it all the year round ? 



Or is a close season required only during a part of the year ? 



Is it feasible to allow it to be killed in certain districts only, and 

 protected in the rest of the island ? 



