ud mournful cry, which, though an apparent
wail, was evidently not inspired by sadness. Alighting near the foot of
a tree-trunk, with many repetitions of his complaining note, he gayly
bobbed his way up the bark highway as if it were a ladder. When he
reached the branches, he flew to another tree. This bird's custom of
delivering his striking call as he approached and mounted a tree not far
from his "food tree" may be a newly acquired habit; for Dr. Merriam, who
observed this species ten years ago on the same place, says that he
"never heard a note of any description from them, either while in the
neighborhood of these trees, or in flying to and fro between them and
the forests." On his own trees the sapsucker was not in such haste, but
lingered about the prepared rings, evidently taking his pick of the
insects attracted there.

The array of traps prepared for the woodpecker's use was most curious,
and readily explained how he came by his name. The clever little workman
had selected for his purpose two trees. One was a large elm, and around
its trunk, about fifteen feet from the ground, he had laboriously cut
with his sharp beak several rings of cups. These receptacles were
somewhat less than half an inch in diameter, and nearly their own width
apart, and the rings encircled the trunk as regularly as though laid
out with mechanical instruments. His second depot of supplies was one of
a close group of mountain ashes, which seemed to spring from one root,
and were thickly shaded by leaves to the ground. The elm would naturally
attract the high-flying insects, and the ash those which stay nearer the
earth, though I do not presume to say that was the bird's intention in
so arranging them. The mountain-ash trunk was perforated in a different
way from the elm, the holes being in lines up and down, and the whole
trunk covered five or six feet above the root. These places were not at
all moist or sticky on the several occasions when I examined them, and
both trees were in a flourishing condition.

The habit of the author of this elaborate arrangement was to fly from
one tree to the other almost constantly. It appeared to lookers-on that
he visited the traps on one and secured whatever was caught or lingered
there, then went to the other for the same purpose; thus allowing
insects a chance to settle on each while he was absent. At almost any
hour of the day he could be found vigorously carrying on his insect hunt
in this singul