BALL* S HILL 
1900 
1 
Downy 
Woodpeckers 
behaving in 
a peculiar 
manner 
Sharp- 
shinned 
Hawk 
swoop s 
at Downy 
Woodpecke r 
Just after we had had our breakfast, four Downy 
Woodpeckers, a male and three females, arrived practically 
together and began theirs at the suet in the oak; just west 
of the cabin. The male and one of the females fed for 
some time on opposite sides of the lump while the other two 
birds had to await their turns. There was a good deal of 
bickering among them before any of them began to eat. When 
thus engaged, two birds facing one another and foot or so 
apart would erect the feathers of the crown into a tow 
crest and hop around in a circle, al?;ays keeping face to 
face and nodding or bowing their heads in an odd way, some¬ 
times uttering a querelous chattering cry very like that of 
the English Sparrow. This note evidently expresses rage 
or defiance, and is never given save under conditions such 
as those just described. 
While Gilbert and I were watching the Downy Wood¬ 
pecker s , standing not twenty feet from them, a shadow passed 
us and a male Sharp-shinned Hawk darted low over oui heads 
and into the little party of Downies. He evidently stooped 
at one of the females but she dodged him. Before he had 
flown six feet in pursuit of her, he discovered us and, 
turning back, alighted in the oak low down facing us. After 
sitting there about a minute, he ao-ar-ed off through the 
woods. He was a beautiful, blue-backed adult bird. 
