Observation of the habits of this Woodpecker is necessarily limited, as the
bird is not often seen within the regions where it might be studied. Enough
is known on the subject, however, to enable us to say that they are similar
to those of the Woodpeckers of the states. They excavate their holes in the
dead young pine trees at a height from the ground of five or six feet, in
this respect differing from their cousins, who make their nests at a much
greater height. In the nests are deposited from four to six pure
ivory-white eggs.
We suggest that the reader, if he has not already done so, read the
biographies and study the pictures of the representatives of this family
that have appeared in this magazine. To us they are interesting and
instructive beyond comparison, with the majority of other feathered factors
in creation, and present an exceedingly attractive study to those who
delight in natural history. They are not singing birds, and therefore do
not "furnish forth music to enraptured ears," but their agreeable call and
love notes, their tenor drum-beats, their fearless presence near the
habitations of man, winter and summer, their usefulness to man in the
destruction of insect pests, their comparative harmlessness (for they
cannot be denied subsistence), all prove that they should be ever welcome
companions of him who was given dominion over the beasts of the field and
the birds of the air.
In city parks where there are many trees, bushes, and thick shrubbery, a
good many birds may be seen and heard near the middle of March. Today, the
22nd of the month, in a morning stroll, we saw and heard the Song Sparrow,
a Blue Bird, a Robin, and two Bluejays, and would, no doubt, have been
gratified with the presence of other early migrants, had the weather been
more propitious. The sun was obscured by clouds, a raw north wind was
blowing, and rain, with threatened snow flurries, awakened the protective
instinct of the songsters and kept them concealed. But now, these April
mornings, if you incline to early rising, you may hear quite a concert, and
one worth attending.
--C. C. M.
----
IRISH BIRD SUPERSTITIONS.
----
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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