EGrGrS : 
The complement of eggs varies from three to five. They are nearly elliptical in shape, pure white, 
and quite glossy. They measure from .57 to .67 in short-diameter, and from .78 to .88 in long-diameter. 
A set of three measures .58 x .85, .59 x .78, and .58 x .80. Another set of five measures .59 x .80, .61 x .86, 
.61 x .85, .63 x .84, and .63 x .86. 
DIFFERENTIAL POINTS: 
See Table. 
REMARKS : 
Plate LYI represents a sectional view of a nest and eggs of the Downy Woodpecker, taken June 
1st, 1884. It was in a willow stump about five feet from the ground. 
It has been stated that the interior of the cavity is finished smoothly, and that the chips are carried 
away from under the site. My observations do not confirm either of these statements. The walls of the 
cavity are moderately smooth, but no more so than would bo expected from the size of the chips which 
the birds are able to cut away. Nor can I confirm the statement that the eggs rest upon the floor of 
the nest, which is made very even. for their reception. On the other hand, I have invariably found quite 
a layer of chips protecting them from the hard wood beneath. 
The Sapsuclcer is a nervous, active bird, and is constantly occupied. During the time which the 
female is sitting, the male often excavates one or more small cavities in some neighboring tree, with 
no other object apparently than to be at work. He is very attentive to his partner the while, and 
carries her choice morsels of food. When the young are hatched, he is equally solicitous with the mother, 
and the pair seldom go far from home. 
When their premises are invaded they become very angry and excited, and scold in their rude way. The 
young when two weeks old can fly, but they stay around the tree in which they were hatched for some 
time after, going in and out of their houses at will. At this age they are very pretty, fat, and saucy. 
Their plumage is lemon-yellow where their parent’s is white; this makes them even handsomer than when 
older, notwithstanding they have not the scarlet patch on their heads, so characteristic of all Woodpeckers. 
When Circe struck Picus, the hunter god of Latium, on the head with her wand, she changed him unto 
a bird. The wound bled, and this blood stain still marks the spot of the blow' on the heads of all his 
adult descendants. 
The food of the Sapsucker consists chiefly of insects and their larvae, and hence these birds are of 
inestimable value to tlie fruit-growers and our forests. On this account, if for no other, they deserve 
every protection. The immense swarm of harmful insects which this species alone destroys in a single 
year, is beyond our comprehension, so vast is the number. 
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