SOUTHERN PILEATED WOODPECKER 167 



Mr. Stockard (1904) says, of the 17 pairs that he watched in Missis- 

 sippi, that the birds do not lay a second set after the nest has been 

 robbed, but they remain in the same woods during the remainder of 

 the season. He says of the nests : 



The burrow is very large and requires in most cases about one month for 

 construction, being commenced in this locality about the latter part of February. 

 But it was very diflScult to note the exact length of time consumed in burrowing, 

 as the birds try so many parts of the same tree before striking one to suit their 

 taste. The nest tree and other dead trees close at hand were ofteu scarred 

 from top to bottom. In two cases they began a nest, then seemed to start 

 one in another place, and then returned to the former and completed it. * * * 



The first nest, a burrow twenty-five feet from the ground in an old sycamore 

 stump, contained one egg on March 22 ; March 2G it contained three, and on 

 April 1, when the set was removed, it consisted of four slightly incubated 

 eggs. • * * 



Only one pair was observed that had their nest in a dead tree which stood 

 in an open field at least sixty or seventy yards from the wood. The female in 

 this case flew about the nest tree and lit once on the upper part and again 

 just over the nest hole while a person was in the act of climbing the tree. 

 This was by far the most daring bird seen and, as mentioned above, because of 

 the isolation of the tree, her burrow was unusually exposed for this species. 



Eggs. — ^The pileated woodpecker lays ordinarily from three to five 

 eggs; Audubon (1842) claims to have found six. The eggs vary 

 from ovate, the commonest shape, to elliptical-ovate; some are even 

 quite pointed. They are a brilliant china- white and usually decidedly 

 glossy. The measurements of 52 eggs average 32.90 by 24.72 milli- 

 meters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure 35.70 by 27.00, 

 30.22 by 22.35, and 29.30 by 22.00 millimeters. 



Young. — Bendire (1895) says that "an ^^'g is deposited daily, and 

 incubation begins occasionally before the set is completed, and lasts 

 about eighteen days, both sexes assisting in this duty, as well as in 

 caring for the young. Like all Woodpeckers, the Pileated are very 

 devoted parents, and the young follow them for some weeks after 

 leaving the nest, until fully capable of caring for themselves. Only 

 one brood is raised in a season." 



Plumages. — I have seen no small nestlings of this species, but they 

 are probably hatched naked and blind, like all other woodpeckers ; the 

 Juvenal plumage is evidently acquired before the young bird leaves 

 the nest. 



The young male, in juvenal plumage, is much like the adult male 

 in general appearance, but the body plumage is softer, less firm, and 

 rather lighter and more sooty in color ; the tips of the primaries have 

 dull-white narrow margins, which soon w^ear away; the red of the 

 head is duller, paler, and more restricted; on the fore half of the 

 crown and the malar region, the feathers are basally grayish brown, 

 the red showing only on the tips of most of the feathers, producing 

 a mixed color effect. The young female is similar to the young male 



