St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1902-03-22

E%|MA s....a.z1a
HAIRY wooDPECKER.
winter have got a 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 eyer-buoyant spirits.
No matter how much snow covers the
food of other birds, his larder, snug n
dead and dying timber, is always ready
for his sharp bill. At this season he il
constantly seen about houses in the
country, especially if there are red
cedars in the yard. I have often seer
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.
When finally he hears an insect in the
wood he 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 mount OF
good, but during the winter their bene'
fit to timber is beyond calculation.
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 c%revices 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 warblera
and vireos might be called the trees
nurses; and when heroic measures are
necessary the surgeona. 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 car
chisel out the nest as he does. The hole
is perfectly round, and just large
enough for the bird to enter. As soo1
as the opening has been got well int<
the wood it is turned downward at q
sharp angle. After being carried dow1
for some distance, it is enlarged x
that the female bird may be able t.
sit on her eggs and also turn around
How the wodpecker can, in the narrow
passage, give sufficient stroke to CYL;
away the hard wood has always bee,
q mystery to me. OF course, it is cas-.
enough to watch a wodpecker whey
he has just started cutting on the out
side of a limb, but his operations be
come pulling when he gets out O
sight, seemingly standing on his heat
and still busily chiseling away. H,
not only chisels out the nest, but, work
ing in such chose quarters, is able Il
make the surface quite smooth and 4
the same time keep the diameter o.
the hole nearly the same throughout
The plumage of the hairy wood
pecker is well adapted to his hole
breeding habits. If his f~eathersSwer'
firm and round-ended, such as we Sc.
in common fowls, they would be con
stantly worn and frayed from passin,
in and out of the small opening of tn
nest. Nature has given him a coat per
fectly suited for his habits. They ar
very loose, hairy-looking feathers; in
deed, they so much resemble hair at tn,
first glance that they have given tn
bird his name-hairy woodpecker
This same popularity Of loose, hair,
feathering is seen in the titmice, tn
chicadees and other birds which bree'
in holes in t~rees.-Washington Star.