The Leavenworth echo. [volume] (Leavenworth, Wash.) 1904-current, 1911-06-23


II was standing. He arrived with an
undulating fight and swept in sidewise
against the trunk, as tho thrown. Spatl
he struck. For moment he stuck
motionless, then commenced to side
around and up the trunk. Every now
and then he tapped with his bill, or else
stopped to peer into a bark cavity He
devoured an insect egg cluster, spider
and beetle of some kind before as
cendng to the first limb,
Just below the point Of a limbs at
tachment he edged about, giving the
ueetrunk a rafting patter OF taps with
his bill. He was feeling for something
with sound. Presently spot sounded
to his satisfaction Adjusting himself,
he rained blows with his pickax bill up
on this, fitting his head and directing
the blows with an apparently automatic
action, now and then giving side-wipe
with his bill-probably to tear OIL
splinter or throw off chip. In six
minutes fat grub was exposed. Then
he enlarged the hole and slightly deep
ened it vertically. Pausing, he mo-
mentarily thrust his head into the hole
and his bill into a cavity beyond. With
backward tug he pulled his head out,
then his bill and at last his extended
tongue with grub impaled upon its
barbed point. This grub was dragged
from the bottom of crooked gallery at
point more than three inches beyond
the bottom of the pecked hole. A
useful bread-getting tool, this tongue OF
his-a flexible, extendable spear.
In another tree he uncovered feast
of ants and their eggs. Once grass
hopper alighted against another tree
trunk up which he was climbing. Downy
seized him instantly. In one treetop
he consumed an entire tent caterpiller
colony.
In four hours he examined the trunks,
larger limbs and many of the smaller
ones of 1873 apple trees. In this time
he made % excavations, five of which
were large ones. Among the insects
devoured were beetles, ants, their eggs
and their aphids, grasshopper, a moth
or two and a colony OF caterpillars. |
followed him closely and frequently was
within a few feet of him. Often l saw
his eyes, or rather one eye at time;
and number OF times l imagined him
about 10 look around and, with a merry
laugh, fly away for he frequently acted |
like happy child who is closely watch
ing you while all the time merrily pre-
tending not to see you. Yet, in all
those four hours, he did not do a single /
thing which showed that he knew of my
nearness or even of my existence
Examining each tree in turn, he
moved down long row and at the end |
flew without the slightest pause to the
first tree in the next row. From here
he examined line Of trees diagonally
across the orchard to the farther corner. /
Here he followed along the outer row
until he flew away. The line of his
inspection, from the time l saw him till
he flew away. formed big letter N.
During windstorm in a pine forest
dead tree fell near me and flying limb
knocked Downy, stunned, to the earth
by my feet. On reviving in my hands
he showed but little excitement, and
when my hands opened he pushed him
self off as though to- dive to the earth;
but he skinned and swung upward,
landing against treetrunk about 20
feet distant Up this he commenced
to skate and sidle, exploring away as
though nothing had happened and
were only stump. Saturday Evening
Post.
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