THE CALIFORNIAN WOODPECKER.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LIX, Issue 6872, 9 March 1883, Page 6

THE CALIFORNIAN WOODPECKER.

* Sis, —In your issue of Feb. 3, under the heading “ Naturalist,” you hare as iateresting paragraph descriptive of the woodpecker or “Ft carpjntero," and r-t the query, " Why dees the bird take w xuch trouble to plant the acorn ?” I there/ore take the liberty to send you a rosmocsoes of my own experience tending to suggest a solution of the prob'-om. In 1850 I passed the summer &::i part of anfcamn at a place called Bird’s Talley, situated near the top of the high range, which bounds the right back of the north branch of the American river, about 90 miks north from Sacramento city. The mountain range was clothed with a dense forest of plants, each variety occupying belts at special altitudes. At the foot of the range on the bank* of the river, grew wild peppermint, onions, grapes, cherries, and various shrubs and small trees j higher up, on the sides of the steep hill, was a broad belt of oak trees of many Iliads • and higher still, toward# the brow, sad onwards and upwards, lor five or six miles towards the table land which forms tbs crest of the range, were pine trees in great variety. I often locked is wonder and admiration at many pine tree*, haring the bark perforated with holes in rows encircling the barrels in regular order, and cut as clean as if bored by a sharp augur. I was told that the hole* were the work of a bird in which it stored acorns to provide food for its ntoessitiee in winter, sal during the month of September I bad masr opportunities of hearing and seeing the “ carpenter " at work, because then the pics forest resounded from morn till night with the lapping noise caused by the birds perforating the bark with their bills j and once I had an opportunity of learning one reason at least why the buds take so much pains to stow away the acorns. The incidents to which I desire to call special attention took plans in an open pari of the forest, near the top of the range : a small pine tree with a barrel clear of foiisge for about twenty feet from the ground stood alone. The “ carpenter" had commenced operations close under the lowest branch, ana had encircled the barrel with several rows of hole# filled with acorns t it hod apparently just finished a hole, and was in the set of inserting an acorn, when my attention w-.s attracted towards it by an unususl noise which it was making—a squirrel who clung to the bark of the tree was striving to take out on acorn, which was only partially inserted in the hole; the bird resented to* conduct of the rodent by uttering a twitterm* noise, and flying to the distance of a few f** and returning with great velocity and striking with his sharp-pointed beak at the boo of the squirrel i the squirrel tenaciously »tr»” to obtain the coveted fruit, and the bird -• pertiaaoeously continued his mode of att»■ < until he succeeded in driving away the rod- V who took shelter amongst the upper of thetree. when the completed the operation of P u *s“l P k into the bole, by clinging to daws, and striking the acorn with h»^UWhen placed in position tho acorns sra bevond the reach of the claws of the squirrel, I uresume (for I never saw the operathe “carpenter " using bis hill like a pair « distance which the above-mentioned bird would have to travel to get a supply ot Moms would be about four miles, along » Srira flat, and one mile down a steep “ihelndians in the lamslooolUy

np oo acorns, clearly *howi»g that H*® fmit JriLns nutrition* matter •« Übl« to «»® SL Again, other animal. provide .tom of food for use in Fora there wwm «o reason to « carpenter" bird, feed upon the fruit which tw go carefully .tore up.~l w JAMKi M'flAFriK, Oiford tearaoe,,