EASTERN HAIRY WOODPECKER 15 



inches, the bottom edge of the opening slanting up % of an inch 

 while going in li/^ inches. Then the cavity went nearly straight down 

 below the hole for 12 inches, enlarging only a trifle, so that the base 

 was about 41/2 inches in diameter. The shell of the tree was only 

 about yg iiicli thick on one side but on the other was 2 inches thick." 



Dr. Sutton (1928b) says of the nests in Pymatuning Swamp, Pa.: 

 "The cavities were drilled near the tops of dead trees which nearly 

 always stood in water. It was impossible to climb many of them 

 because their bases were weak ; but the clamoring of the young birds 

 could be heard some distance away. On May 30, 1922, I located six 

 nests within a half hour by watching the parent birds and listening 

 for the young. * * * The twenty-six nests averaged roughly over 

 thirty feet from the ground." 



T. E. McMullen mentions in liis notes a Pennsylvania nest that 

 was 50 feet from the ground in a large maple in some woods. J. Claire 

 Wood (1905) reports some very high nests in Michigan; one was in 

 the "trunk of very large barkless dead elm about 50 feet above 

 ground"; another was in the trunk of a "dead beech 55 feet up and 

 just under a large limb." 



The female probably selects the nesting site, but both sexes work 

 alternately at the labor of excavating the cavity. This work requires 

 one to three weeks, depending on how hard the wood is ; a cavity in 

 the soft wood of a poplar, which is a favorite with this species in some 

 localities, might be excavated in a very short time, but I have known 

 a pair to take over three weeks to excavate a nest in a hard maple; 

 the trunk of a living tree may have a soft center, and some of the 

 birds seem to be clever enough to select such a tree. A new nest may 

 often be recognized by the presence of fresh chips on the ground around 

 the tree, as the birds are not very particular about removing them. 



The male sometimes digs out another shallower hole near the nest- 

 ing tree, which he uses as a sleeping place. Usually a fresh hole is 

 made each season, but I have seen occupied holes that were very 

 much weathered, as if they had been occupied for more than one 

 season; in such cases, the cavity may be deepened somewhat and the 

 bottom covered with fresh chips. I once found a pair of these wood- 

 peckers excavating their domicile, which they later abandoned, as I 

 found on a later visit that the hole was partly full of water and sap. 

 They are not always successful in their first attempt, for this and 

 other reasons, and may have to start two or three holes before they 

 find just the conditions they want. The eggs are laid on a soft bed 

 of fresh chips at the bottom of the cavity and are usually half buried 

 in it; no nesting material is carried in. 



Eggs. — The hairy woodpecker lays three to six eggs, but four seems 

 to be the commonest number. The eggs vary in shape from oval to 

 elliptical-oval, usually more nearly oval. The shell is smooth and 



