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Every leaf was at rest, and I heard not a sound,
Save a Wood-drummer tapping on a hollow beech tree.
THIS little Woodpecker is the smallest of all those inhabiting the United
States. In the shade trees about houses and parks, and especially in
orchards, he may be frequently seen tapping or scratching on the limb of a
tree within two or three yards' distance, where he has discovered a decayed
spot inhabited by wood-boring larvae or a colony of ants, his food
consisting of ants, beetles, bugs, flies, caterpillars, spiders, and
grasshoppers. The late Dr. Glover of the Department of Agriculture, states
that on one occasion a Downy Woodpecker was observed by him making a number
of small, rough-edged perforations in the bark of a young ash tree, and
upon examination of the tree when the bird had flown, it was found that
wherever the bark had been injured, the young larvae of a wood-eating
beetle had been snugly coiled underneath and had been destroyed by the
bird. Beechnuts also constitute a considerable portion of the food of this
bird. Dr. Merriam says that in northern New York they feed extensively on
this nut, particularly in fall, winter, and early spring.
This miniature Woodpecker is very social in its habits, far more so than
other species, and is often found associated with other birds, in the
woods, the orchards, along fence rows, and not infrequently in the cities.
He is often seen in company with the White-breasted Nuthatch (See Vol. II,
p. 118) and the Brown Creeper (Vol. III, p. 214).
Early in the spring the "Downies" retire to the woods to make their nests,
preferring the vicinity of running water. The nest is begun about the
second or third week in May, and consumes from two days to a week in
building. The holes are usually excavated in dead willow, poplar, or oak
trees, and the height varies from four to thirty feet, generally about
fifteen feet. The entrance to the nest is about two inches in diameter, and
the depth of the nest hole varies from eight to eighteen inches. The eggs
are four or five, rarely six, and are pure glossy-white.
We know of no more interesting occupation than to observe this bird. It is
fond of drumming on the stub of a dead limb whose center is hollow, and
whose shell is hard and resonant. Upon such places it will drum for an hour
at a time, now and then stopping to listen for a response from its mate or
of some rival. At all times it is unsuspicious of man, and when engaged in
excavating the receptacle for its nest it continues its busy chiseling,
unheeding his near approach.
The Woodpecker is wrongfully accused of boring into the sound timber, and,
by letting in the water, hastening its decay. As Dixon says: "Alas! poor
harmless, unoffending Woodpecker, I fear that by thy visits to the trees
thou art set down as the cause of their premature decay. Full well I know
thy beak, strong as it is, is totally incapable of boring into the sound
timber--full well do I know that, even if thou wert guilty of such offense,
nothing would reward thy labors, for thy prey does not lurk under the bark
of a healthy tree. Insects innumerable bore through its bark and hasten its
doom, and it is thy duty in Nature's economy to check them in their
disastrous progress."
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