Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1902-03-07

to ledge of icy rock. The occasional
tapping of a woodpecker or the quer-
| ulous lsping of some sparrow are the
only bird sounds, and the insect voices
are waiting for the return of spring.
The little hairy woodpecker is with
us all the year, but in summer, with
it's grand chorus of bird voices, we are
apt to overlook him. When fall and
winter have got firm hold upon the
world of nature this chary little car
penter can be seen and heard constant
ly. No weather seems to bother him
or dampen his ever-buoyant spirits.
No matter how much snow covers the
food of other birds, his larder, snug in
dead and dying timber, is always ready
for his sharp bill. At this season he is
constantly seen about houses in the
country, especially if there are red
cedars in the yard. I have often seen
these birds busy eating the beautiful
dark berries and hopping about on the
ground for fallen ones. Now they will
allow a person to approach quite close,
simply. keeping on the opposite side of
the tree trunk, peeping around to see
that you mean no mischief.
If you have never watched a wood.
pecker searching for insects it will re
pay you to do so at your first oppor
tunity. He climbs up and around, tap
ping gently here and there. After he
taps once or twice he turns his head
to one side and places it close to the
wood to listen for any insects which
the noise has frightened. If he de-
tects no sound he moves and taps again
WhRu finally ho hears in tho
woodShe braces himself with his stiff
little tail and chips away the shield
which covers his dinner.
During the summer months these
birds do a tremendous amount of
good, but during the winter their bene-.
fit to timber is beyond calcula ton
Every insect during the winter months
means that many less broods for other
birds to destroy the coming summer.
How wonderfully nature has bal
anced and planned life, animal and veg
etable! The woodpeckers, with heavy
bills and equally heavy heads, cut into
dead and dying timber and hold the
borers and other enemies of forest
trees in check. The nuthatches and
creepers, with long, slender, probelike
bills, ferret out all insects, their larvae
and eggs, which Turk in the crevices of
the bark. The warblers and vireos re-
turn from the south as soon as the
buds begin to swell and carefully rid
them of hidden enemies. Thus we see
how the whole tree is tended by ma
lures physicians. The small warblers
and vireos might be called the trees
nurses; and when heroic measures are
necessary the surgeons, the wood
peckers, come in.
Like all of the rest of the woodpeck-
er family, this small bird chisels him
self a nest in a dead piece of timber
in which to rear his family. The nest
is invariably so placed that the driv.
ing rains of early spring will not in.
undate it. I have never been able
to understand how a woodpecker can
chisel out the nest as he does. The hole
is perfectly round, and just large
enough for the bird to enter. As soon
as the opening has been got well into
the wood it is turned downward at q
sharp angle. After being carried dowr
for some distance, it is enlarged sc
that the female bird may be able to
sit on her eggs and also turn around
How the wodpecker can, in the narrow
passag e, give sufficient stroke to GU
away the hard wood has always beer
a mystery to me. OF course, it is easy
enough to watch a wodpecker wheI
he has just started cutting on the out
side of limb, but his operation be
come puzzling when he gets out OF
sight, seemingly standing on his head
and still busily chiseEng away. He
not only chisels out the nest, but, work
ing in such close quarters, is able tc
make the surface quite smooth and al
the same time keep the diameter of
the hole nearly the same throughout |
The plumage of the hairy wood
pecker is well adapted to his hole
breeding habits. If his feathers were
firm and round-ended, such as we see |
in. common fowls, they would be con-
stantly worn and fayed from passing |
in and out of the small opening of the
nest. Nature has given him a coat per-
fectly suited for his habits. They are |
very loose, hairy-looking feathers; in |
deed, they so much resem bic hair al the |
first glance that they have given the |
bird his name-hairy woodpecker |
This same popularity Of loose, hairy |
feathering is seen in the titInice, the |
chicadees and other birds which breed |
in holes in trees.-Washington Star.