410 
THE DOWNY WOODPECKER . 
posts and rails, and especially delighting in those trees that are much infested with the green 
fly, or aphis, as the wood-ants swarm in such trees for the purpose of obtaining the ‘ ‘ honey- 
dew,” as it distils from the aphides, and then the Woodpeckers eat the ants. Those destruc- 
tive creatures generally called wood-lice, and known to boys as “ monkey-peas,” are a favorite 
article of diet with the Woodpeckers, to whom our best thanks are therefore due. 
But the Woodpeckers, although living mostly on insects, do not confine themselves wholly 
to that diet, but are very fond of fruits, always choosing the ripest. In some countries 
the forest-land forms so small a portion of the area, that the Woodpeckers are comparatively 
few, and can do little appreciable mischief to the gardens ; but in other lands, such as many 
parts of America, they do very great damage, stripping the trees of their fruit, and the fields 
of their crops, to such an extent that they are annually shot by hundreds. 
As is the case with all its congeners, the Great Spotted Woodpecker lays its eggs in the 
hollow of a tree. 
The locality chosen for this purpose is carefully selected, and is a tunnel excavated, or at 
all events altered, by the bird for the special purpose of nidification. Before commencing the 
operation, the Woodpeckers always find out whether the tree is sound or rotten, and they can 
ascertain the latter fact, even through several layers of sound wood. When they have fixed 
upon a site for their domicile, they set determinately to work, and speedily cut out a circular 
tunnel just large enough to admit their bodies, but no larger. Sometimes this tunnel is tolera- 
bly straight, but. it generally turns off in another direction. 
At the bottom of the hole the female bird collects the little chips of decayed wood that 
have been cut off during the boring process, and deposits her eggs upon them without any 
attempt at nest-making. The eggs are generally five in number, but six have been taken from 
the nest of this species. The young are able to run about the tree some time before they can 
fly, and traverse the bark quite fearlessly, retiring to the hole and calling their parents when- 
ever they want food. 
Generally the nests of birds are kept scrupulously clean ; but that of the Woodpecker is 
a sad exception to the rule, the amount of filth and potency of stench being quite beyond 
human endurance. The color of the eggs is white, and their surface glossy, and they are 
remarkable, when fresh, for some very faint and very narrow lines, which run longitudinally 
down the shell towards the small end. 
The general color of this species is black and white, curiously disposed, with the exception 
of the back of the head, which is light scarlet, and contrasts strongly with the sober hues of 
the body. Taking the black to be the ground color, the white is thus arranged : The fore- 
head and ear-coverts, a patch on each side of the neck, the scapularies, and part of the wing- 
coverts, several little squared spots on the wings, and large patches on the tail are pure white. 
The throat and the whole of the under surface are also white, but with a grayish cast, and 
the under tail-coverts are red. The total length of the adult male is rather more than nine 
inches. The female has no red on the head, and the young birds of the first year are remark- 
able for having the back of the head black and the top of the head red, often mixed with a 
few little black feathers. 
The Downy Woodpecker derives its name from the strip of loose downy feathers which 
passes along its back. It is a native of America, and very plentiful in various parts of that 
country. Its habits are so well described by Wilson, that his own words will be the best com- 
ment on this pretty little bird: — 
‘‘About the middle of May the male and female look out for a suitable place for the recep- 
tion of their eggs and young. An apple, pear, or cherry tree, often in the near neighborhood 
of the farm-house, is generally pitched upon for this purpose. The tree is minutely recon- 
noitered for several days previous to the operation, and the work is first begun by the male, 
who cuts out a hole in the solid wood as circular as if described with a pair of compasses. He 
is occasionally relieved by the female, both parties working with the most indefatigable dili- 
gence. The direction of the hole, if made in the body of the tree, is generally downwards by an 
angle of thirty or forty degrees for the distance of six or eight inches, and then straight down 
