578 NORTH AMERICAN BlUUS. 



It is probably true that they usually excavate their own burrow, but this 

 is not an invariable rule. In tlie fall uf l<S7t) a pair of tliese W'ooilpeckers 

 took shelter in my liarn, remaining there dui'ing the winter. Although there 

 were abundant means of entrance and of egress, they wrought for themselves 

 other passages out and in through the most solid part of the sides of the 

 building. Early in the spring they took possession of a large cavity in an 

 old apple-tree, directly on the path between the barn and the house, where 

 they reared their family. They were very shy, and rarely permitted them- 

 selves to be seen. The nest contained six young, each of which had been 

 hatched at successive intervals, leaving the nest one after the other. The 

 youngest was nearly a fortnight later to depart than the first. Just before 

 leaving the nest, the oldest bird climbed to the opening of the cavity, filling 

 the whole space, and uttering a loud hissing sound whenever the nest was 

 approaclied. As soon as they could use their wings, even partially, they 

 were removed, one by one, to a more retired part of the grounds, M'here tliey 

 were fed l)y their parents. 



Througliout Massachusetts, this bird, generally known as the Pigeon 

 Woodpecker, is one of the most common and familiar birds. They abound 

 in old orchards and groves, and manifest more apjjarent confidence in man 

 than the treatment they receive at his hands seems to justify. Their nests 

 are usually constructed at the distance of only a few feet fr(mi the ground, 

 and tliough Wilson, Audubon, and Nuttall agree upon six as the average 

 of their eggs, they frequently exceed this number. Mr. Audubon gives as 

 the measurement of the eggs of this species 1.08 inches in length and .88 

 of an inch in breadth. Tlieir length varies from 1.05 to 1.15 inches, and 

 their breadth from .91 to .85 of an inch. Their average measurement 

 is 1.09 by .88 of an inch. 



Colaptes mexicanus, Swainsok SS i^ 



RED-SHAFTED FLICKEE. / t 



Colaptes mexkamts, Sw. Syn. Mex. Birds, in Pliilos. Mag. I, 1827, 440. — Ib. F. Bor. Am. 

 II, 1831, 315. — Newbeukv, Zoi>l. Cal. & Or. Route, 91 ; P. R. R.. Rep, VI, 1857. — 

 Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 120. —Max. Cab. .Jour. 1858, 420, mixed with hyhridus. 

 — Lord, Proc. R. Art. lust. I, iv, 112. — Cooper & StrCKLEV, 163. — Scl.\ter, 

 P. Z. S. 1858, 309 (Oaxaca). — Ib. Cat. 1862, 344. — Dres.ser, Ibis, 1865, 470 (San 

 Antonio, rare). — CoHEs, Pr. A. N. S. 1866, 56. — Sfmichrast, Mem. Bost. See. I, 

 1869, 562 (alpine district, Vera Cruz). — Gray, Cat. 1868, 121. — Dali, & Bannister, 

 Pr. Chicago Ac. I, 1869, 275 (Alaska). — Cooper, Orn. Cal. I, 1870, 408. Picus mexi- 

 canus, AUD. Orn. Biog. V, 1839, 174, pi. ceccxvi. — Ib. Birds America, IV, 1842, 295, 

 pi. cclxxiv. — Sundevaix, Consp. 72. Colaptes mllari.% Vigors, Zool. ,Tour. IV, Jan. 

 1829, 353. — Ib. ZoSl. Beechoy's Voy. 1839, 24, pi. ix. Pieus ruhrioitus, AVagi.er, 

 Isis, 1829, V, May, 516. (" Lichtenstein Mus. Berol.") Colaptes riihricatus, BoN. Pr. 

 Zoiil. Soc. V, 1837, 108. —In. List, 1838. — Ir. Conspectu-s 1850, 114. J Pkuscafer, 

 Gmelin, Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 431.— Lath. Index Ornith. 11, 1790, 242. t Picus 

 latltami, W.^GLER, Syst. 1827, No. 85 (Cape of Good Hope?). 



