314 LAND-BIRDS AND GAME-BIRDS 



the result of his first efforts, he begins again in another place 

 or a different tree. It is nearly or quite as common to find the 

 uncompleted excavations of this species and the Downy Wood- 

 pecker, as to find their finished nests. I have seen a tree with 

 eight of the latter and three of the former. Immediately or 

 soon after the middle of May (near Boston), six eggs are gen- 

 erall}' laid, sometimes at irregular intervals. A dozen eggs or 

 more, however, have been found in the same ne^t, but these 

 had probably been laid by two or more females. The female 

 sometimes continues to lay, if robbed of her eggs, or, after 

 deepening the hole, lays another set. Even this is often 

 taken by bo3's, to whom few birds are more familiar than these. 

 The 3'oung at an earl}^ age scramble out to the fresh air, and 

 about their native tree, until old enough to fly. 



The Pigeon Woodpeckers, as they are often called, frequent 

 woods, orchards, pastures, fields, roadsides, and nearly' all our 

 kinds of trees, except the evergreens, for which they show no 

 fondness. The^^ raa}'^ often be seen upon the ground, actively 

 engaged in the destruction of ants (which chiefly constitute 

 their diet), or hopping over our lawns in search of other in- 

 sects. Sometimes, fluttering before a vine, they seize its ber- 

 ries ; sometimes they visit gardens not only for grubs but for 

 grain, and sometimes, like true woodpeckers, they hop about 

 trees in the search of insects, or of their larvte and eggs. They 

 usually perch crosswise, which our other woodpeckers rarely do. 

 They fly with ease, and often rapidity, moving through the air 

 at a moderate height in gentle undulations, with an intermit- 

 tent beating of the wings. They are naturally sh}', and, 

 though found in man's society', rather avoid his near approach. 

 They are also affectionate, merry, and even noisy. Bulfon 

 supposed them to lead a dull, toilsome, and wearisome life, — 

 an idea which both Wilson and Audubon have indignantly 

 refuted. 



(d). The three principal notes of the Pigeon Woodpeckers 

 are: (1) A loud scream, wholly without the savageness ob- 

 servable in those of many birds of prey, but, on the contrary, 

 rather jovial, (2) the rapid repetition of another unmusical 



