IVORY-BILLED WOODPECKER 5 



hole as "oval and measures 4% by 5% inches," and Scott (18S8) as "S% inches 

 wide and 4i^ inches high." The corresponding measurements of the nests of 

 Pileated Woodpeckers are given by Bendire (1805) as follows: "The entrance 

 measures from 3 to 3% inches in diameter, and it often goes 5 inches straight 

 into the trunk before it is worked downward." The additional one to two 

 inches in diameter of the nest hole should be kept in mind when searching for 

 reasons why the Ivorybill has proven less successful than the Pileated Wood- 

 pecker in its struggle for existence. Thompson (1885) states: "The depth of 

 the hole varies from three to seven feet, as a rule, but I found one that was 

 nearly nine feet deep and another that was less than two." He also claims 

 that they are always jug-shaped at the lower end. 



Of two nests discovered by Hoyt (1905) in Claremont County, 

 Fla., one was 58 feet up in a live cypress about 20 yards from a nest 

 discovered in 1904 b}^ the Brown brothers; the second nest buift by 

 the same pair after the first eggs had been taken was in a cypress 

 stub about 70 yards distant from the first and 47 feet from the 

 ground. The opening of the first nest was Q% inches by 3^/4 inches, 

 with the trunk of the tree 15 inches in diameter at the nest cavity, 

 which was 14 inches deep. The second nest hole measured 6 by 3% 

 inches and was likewise 14 inches deep. "The opening in both nests 

 was uneven and rough, and just inside the hollow was much en- 

 larged, being 9 inches across, and unlike the nests of other wood- 

 peckers, was smaller at the bottom than at the top. * * * One 

 marked feature of the nest tree of which I have seen no mention 

 made is that the outer bark of those I have examined was torn to 

 shreds from a point some distance below the nest site to 15 or 20 feet 

 above it. This made the nest tree noticeable for quite a distance. 

 The last nest taken this season had little of this work done." 



Allen and Kellogg (1937) say further: 



According to Mcllhenny (Bendire, 1895) the female does all the work of 

 excavation, requiring from eight to fourteen days, while the male sits around 

 and chips the bark from neighboring trees. Audubon, however, states that "both 

 birds work most assiduously at this excavation, one waiting outside to encourage 

 the other." Maurice Thompson (1896) likewise reports that both birds work 

 at the excavation. We had no opportunity to check either statement but cer- 

 tainly both birds take part in incubation and feeding the young. The chips are 

 not removed from the vicinity of the nest for each one that we have examined 

 has had piles of chips directly below the opening though, since most of the trees 

 were standing in water, the chips were not very conspicuous. 



We camped within three hundred feet of our first Ivorybill nest in Louisiana, 

 in 1935. A pair of 24-power binoculars set on a tripod was trained on the nest 

 opening, and from daylight, April 10, until 11 a. m., April 14, continuous obser 

 vations during the hours of daylight wore made either by the writers or by 

 James Tanner. The nest had been found the morning of April 6, when the 

 female was incubating, but how far along incubation had proceeded we made no 

 effort to determine for fear of disturbing the birds. Contrary to most published 

 accounts, however, the birds were not particularly wary and soon became so 

 accustomed to our presence that they would enter the nest-hole with one of 

 us standing at the base of the tree and later even when one of us was descending 



