The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1896-05-16
The woodpecker
From the Philadelphia Ledger.

From the Philadelphia Ledger.
In recent lecture on Birds by Mrs.
Olive Thorne Miller, in Philadelphia, Pa,
she said
The service which woodpeckers perform
in the world, she said, is the protection Of
trees, especially our forest and fruit trees,
from insect foes, and no birds are better
prepared for their work then they. The
strong beak for cutting into wood, the
long, extensible tongue, barbed at the end
to impale their prey, the toes turning, two
forward and two back, ike pair of Crap
nels, by which they climb, and the stiff,
spine-tipped tail feathers, which act as !
props to hold them in positien.
A woodpecker nest was described as a
deep pocket, usually in the heart of tree,
with an entrance barely large enough TO
admit the owner Both birds take part
in the excavation, and are extremely care
ful to make no litter of chips about the
tree, and the abandoned nests are eagerly
sought by other birds, notably bluebirds,
wrens and English sparrows.
The most common woodpeckers Of our
latitude are the flicker, or highhole, or
golden winged woodpecker, who has a list
of more than thirty names to his credit.
This bird is noted as domestic character,
being fond of large family and an untir-
ing caretaker. A story is told of eggs
being removed-one each day-from a
flicker nest until large number were
taken, and when the bird began sitting
replaced one by one The victim of this
rather heartless joke sat till part of her
immense brood were out of the shell, and
left the remainder to be Matched by the
heat of the young ones, having, when all
were out, an enormous family of all ages.
Woodpeckers, more than any other
birds, are changing their habits. The
golden wing has abandoned the ways OF
his ancestors, and no longer laboriously
excavates nest, but cuts through board
in one of our buildings, and nests inside.
Thus he makes use of hollow pillar Of
piazza, an empty attic, or the space be-
tween the outside and inside walls of
frame building. He has also changed his
manner of feeding, deserting tree trunks
and occupying himself principally in the
destruction of ants.
The speaker told of captive flicker
that sang-probably his love song-to an
English goldfnch, and called attention to
the expressive movements of wings, tail,
and, indeed, every part of the body which
she called his gesture language The
flicker, she said, is one of the most comi-
cal of birds, full of amusing pranks, bois
ferrous and playful in his ways, and an ex
ceedingly interesting subject to study.
This bird manner of feeding is curious;
the long beak is pushed far down the throat
of the young bird and several savage-look
ing thrusts made, as if the parent were
piercing the very vitals of its offspring
The beak is then Withdrawn, spasmodic
movement of the throat made and the
strange performance repeated. This is
done several times till the young wood
pecker has received an ample meal. The
comical antics of two fickers, dance, game,
or whatever it might be, and also the
courtship manners of the species were de-
scribed as reported by eyewitness.
The downy and hairy wookpeckers are
among our most useful birds, especially the
former, which rids apple trees of their insect
pests. A tree well punctured with small
holes will usually be found vigorous and
full of fruit, while one not cleared out by
the little woodpecker becomes the prey Of
the insidious pests This birds way of
escaping from his enemies by taking ad-
vantage of his protective coloring, and
flattening himself out on branch, so that
he looks like part of it, was described.
The yellow breasted woodpecker, cou,-
monty called the sapsucker, was defended
from the accusation that he lives principally
upon sap Mr.. Warren, State 0rnitholo
gist of Pennsylvania; DIR. Bryant, Of the
Boston Society of Natural History; Dr. C.
Hart Merriam, of the Government Bureau
of Agriculture, and Prof. Lucas, an au-
thority on the tongues of birds, were quoted
to prove that the bird is mainly insec-
tivorous, and has been greatly slandered.
Last to be mentioned, but quite as
striking a character as any of the remarka-
Bile family, is the red-headed woodpecker,
which is said by Mr. Wilmer Stone, of
the Philadelphia Academy of Sciences, to
be rare about Philadelphia, but common in
the valleys of the Susquehanna, Brandy
wine and Upper Schuylkill. He is
boisterous and frolicsome bird, full of quaint
conceits and amusing ways. He is provi-
bent also, laying up food for time of need,
even, in several cases reported, stufing live
grasshoppers into crack in post, in such
a way that they were preserved alive until
he wanted them to eat. The red head
also has departed from the traditions of his
family in taking his food from the ground,
or even from the air, after the manner of
a Aycatcher.
The possibility of friendly relations with
birds was touched upon, and an account
given of an invalid lady in England who
makes friends with her feathered neighbors
by rearing young birds from the nest, and
when full grown and perfectly tame setting
them free in her grounds, where they live
their wild lives, returning freely to the al
ways open windows for food and for visits
to their friend, whom they never learned
to fear. Further testimony from Prof
Lloyd Morgan, Mr.. Hudson and others
was brought to prove that birds are not
born with the fear of man, but learn it
from their parents and elders.
Buffalos in Japan.