Resident. 
Favorite Haunts. On the trunks of trees. 
Field Marks. The smallest of our woodpeckers. The downy and 
hairy woodpeckers resemble each other in markings, but the hairy is 
larger, being over two inches longer. 
Note. "His song is a thin rattle ; his call note a sharp, peek-peek." 
In spite of what has been said to the contrar}^ the downy woodpecker 
is one of the most beneficial birds that a farmer can have about his 
orchards. The downy is not a "sapsucker." That name is rightly applied 
to another species, the yellow-bellied woodpecker. Although the downy 
bores holes into the bark of trees, he does not revisit them to suck the 
sap as does the yellow-bellied. The "sapsucker" may be distinguished 
from the downy and hairy by its red colored throat. In the yellow-bellied 
species there is red on top of the head while in the beneficial species the 
red is on the hack of the neck. 
In spring time^ in common with other woodpeckers, the downy beats 
a rolling tattoo upon a resounding limb. This is his love song, or one of 
them at least. In the winter he prefers a permanent home, and the 
inside of a tree to the outside, occupying a cavity which he himself has 
made. The winter home, however, is deserted when spring comes and he 
selects a new one in which to raise his family. 
This bird can be attracted about the farm buildings by hanging 
pieces of meat and suet in the trees. Experts at Washington have found 
that 75 per cent, of the downy's food is composed of insects. "The little 
bird destroys May beetles, plant lice and ants. A single wood borer will 
often kill an entire tree, and one-fifth of the downy's food consists of such 
borers." 
GOLDEN-WINGED WOODPECKER— (Co/a/^/^j auratus.) 
Top of head ashy gray, a bright scarlet band across the back of the 
neck; upper parts mixed black, white and dull yellowish; wings and tail 
black with much white on both ; inner surface of wings and shafts yellow ; 
under parts light yellow with black patch on the breast and black spots 
on the sides. 
Female, similar but without the black streaks on the sides of the 
throat. 
IG 
