RED-COCKADED WOODPECKER 75 



the tree until the resin exudes freely. This glazed patch of gum 

 around the nesting hole is unmistakable and when once seen becomes 

 an easy landmark for the location of the nests, inasmuch as it may be 

 discerned through the open woods for a distance of several hundred 

 yards. During the period of incubation, the birds are a sorry spec- 

 tacle, the abdomen being largely denuded of feathers, as is customary 

 with many birds, and the breast feathers from the clavicle to the 

 end of the sternum begaumed and matted togetlier with resin, and, 

 in fact, they remain permanently unfit to be taken as specimens 

 until the next molting has been completed. 



The nidification is earlier along the coast and southward than in 

 the interior and toward the northern limits of its range, beginning 

 sometimes as early as February, but the major nesting season may be 

 said to be the last week in April and the first week in May. 



S. A. Grimes tells us that old nests of this species are used by red- 

 bellied and red-headed woodpeckers, white-breasted nuthatches, blue- 

 birds, crested flycatchers, and flying squirrels. 



Eggs. — The eggs vary from three to five in number, the latter 

 being unusual; they are elliptically ovate in shape, pure glossy white, 

 and semitranslucent when fresh. Not infrequently they are stained 

 or smeared with resin from the breast feathers of the incubating bird. 

 As a rule only one brood is raised in a season unless the first set has 

 been taken, and both parents participate in incubation. There is 

 some evidence tending to show that the eggs and even the unfledged 

 young are sometimes thrown out of the nest by the birds when it 

 has been disturbed. 



The measurements of 50 eggs average 24.04 by 17.86 millimeters; 

 the eggs showing the four extremes measure 26.42 by 18.54, 26.4 by 

 19.8, 21.38 by 17.46, and 23.77 by 16.66 millimeters. 



Plumages. — The young in their first plumage bear the general 

 color pattern of the adults with this important exception — ^the young 

 male has a dull crimson oval central crown patch. However, while 

 the pattern is identical with that of adult birds, the black is replaced 

 by a dark sepia merging at times into an aniline black, and the bluish 

 gloss evident on the crowns of the mature birds is lacking. Similarly, 

 the feathers of the cheek patch in both sexes lack the fine silky gloss 

 and texture that are later attained. The underparts show uniformly 

 a buffy or ochraceous wash everywhere, and the barring of the tail 

 is more pronounced. During this phase, the plumage is much softer 

 and looser than it subsequently becomes. 



With the first molt, the red crown patch is lost. 



It is the belief of the writer, without sufficient specimens properly 

 to verify it, that the cockades of the full adult male plumage are not 

 attained until at least the third molt. Without careful dissection and 

 sex determination of the immature birds, a fact notoriously difficult 



