DOWNY WOODPECKER. 
243 
sharp cry, jerk back their heads in order to give a hasty glance around, and move upward. 
Almost as quickly as if upon the wing, they will gain an elevated limb, eighty feet or 
more in air; then the resounding blows fall thick and fast, for the nice ears of our little 
friends have informed them that an insect lurks within. This mallet and chisel applied 
with such persistence, causes the bits of wood to fly in all directions, and it is in vain, 
that the plump larvae which has been fattening upon the sap of the tree, retreats further 
into its tunnel; its fate is sealed, for the next second, it is impaled upon the spear-like 
tongue of the Woodpecker, jerked from its hiding place, and quickly transferred to a safe 
receptacle. 
Thus the Downy Woodpeckers labor on, hour after hour, day in and day out, through¬ 
out the year, destroying millions on millions of insects which, had they been unmolested, 
would have done an incalculable injury to the husbandman. Forest, road-side, and or¬ 
chard, are visited in turn by these Woodpeckers, thus there are few birds which are better 
known than our little spotted friends. They are called Sapsuckers by many for, in com¬ 
mon with the Hairy, they are accused of eating the inner bark of trees but I do not think 
that this is a general habit with them, at least in the section of which I write. It is true 
that they often drill holes in the outer bark of trees, a quarter of an-inch, or a little more, 
in depth but I never saw one of these that penetrated to the fresh bark within. I do not 
think that this is in the least injurious to the trees or that they are drilled by the birds 
with the intention' of eating bark but that they are simply following the promptings of what 
we may call inherited instinct. We find that the California Wodpeckers store acorns, for 
winter use, in holes drilled in the bark for this purpose' but, although the Downys do not 
actually pack away insects in the small orifices which they make, yet they serve as kind of 
store-houses for the birds, as insects enter them for convenient hiding places and are thus 
readily found by the sagacious Woodpeckers. 
The Downy Woodpeckers breed in all sections, from Maine to Southern Florida, much 
more commonly, even in Eastern Massachusetts, than is generally supposed. They are 
fond of nesting by road-sides, often drilling their holes in the dead limb of some high tree; 
thus it is not readily seen and, as the birds are not as conspicuous when the tree is covered 
with foliage as in winter, they pass almost unnoticed, even by the collector. 
The eggs are deposited during the second week of May in New England but much 
earlier as we proceed southward, for they breed in March in Southern Florida. The young 
leave the nest, in the more northern section, in July, about the fifteenth of the month and 
are fed by their parents for some time; at this point of their lives, their bills are soft, 
therefore, they are incapable of procuring suitable food for themselves. 
Like the Hairys, the Downys are constantly resident, seldom migrating, excepting 
during severe winters, but in the cold season they wander considerably, visiting the streets 
of the towns and villages or even venturing into the parks of the great cities. Although 
the Downys are everywhere in the North, yet, in Florida, they seldom, if ever, occur in 
the hummocks, having a decided predilection for the piney woods. They are rather soli- 
ary birds in habit, being found oftener alone or in pairs, than with other members of the 
family. 
