THE BED-HEADED WOODPECKER. 
275 
With the exception of the Mocking-bird, I know no species so gay and 
frolicksorae. Indeed, their whole life is one of pleasure. They find a 
superabundance of food everywhere, as well as the best facilities for raising 
their broods. The little labour which they perform is itself a source of 
enjoyment, for it is undertaken either with an assurance of procuring the 
nicest dainties, or for the purpose of excavating a hole for the reception of 
themselves, their eggs, or their families. They do not seem to be much 
afraid of man, although they have scarcely a more dangerous enemy. When 
alighted on a fence stake by the road, or in a field, and one approaches them, 
they gradually move sidewise out of sight, peeping now and then to discover 
your intention; and when you are quite close and opposite, lie still until you 
are past, when they hop to the top of the stake, and rattle upon it with their 
bill, as if to congratulate themselves on the success of their cunning. Should 
you approach within arm’s length, which may frequently be done, the 
Woodpecker flies to the next stake or the second from you, bends his head 
to peep, and rattles again, as if to provoke you to a continuance of what 
seems to him excellent sport. He alights on the roof of the house, hops 
along it, beats the shingles, utters a cry, and dives into your garden to pick 
the finest strawberries which he can discover . 
I would not recommend to any one to trust their fruit to the Red-heads ; 
fcr they not only feed on all kinds as they ripen, but destroy an immense 
quantity besides. No sooner are the cherries seen to redden, than these 
birds attack them. They arrive on all sides, coming from a distance of 
miles, and seem the while to care little about the satisfaction you might feel 
in eating some also. Trees of this kind are stripped clean by them. When 
one has alighted and tasted the fii’st cherry, he utters his call-note, jerks 
his tail, nods his head, and at it again in an instant. When fatigued, he 
loads his bill with one or two, and away to his nest, to supply his young. 
It is impossible to form any estimate of the number of these birds seen in 
the United States during the summer months; but this much I may safely 
assert, that a hundred have been shot upon a single cherry-tree in one day. 
Pears, peaches, apples, figs, mulberries, and even peas, are thus attacked. I 
am not disposed to add to these depredations those which they commit 
upon the corn, either when young and juicy, or when approaching maturity, 
lest I should seem too anxious to heap accusations upon individuals, who, 
although culprits, are possessed of many undeniably valuable qualities. 
But to return. They feed on apples as well as on other fruit, and carry 
them off by thrusting into them their sharp bills when open, with all their 
force, when they fly away to a fence-stake or a tree, and devour them at 
leisure. They have another bad habit, which is that of sucking the eggs of 
small birds. For this purpose, they frequently try to enter the boxes of the 
