NORTHERN PILEATED WOODPECKER 175 



not been published, and since it is pertinent to the question of per- 

 manence of mating, it is here given at length : 



"On the side of Mount Monadnock, N. H., October 13, 1908, I 

 watched two birds executing a sort of dance. Wlien first seen they 

 were clinging to the bole of a spruce, near the ground. They hopped 

 up and down the trunk, frequently pecking at each other's bills 

 simultaneously, now on one side of the tree, now on the other. When 

 I got too near they flew a short distance to another tree, and I fol- 

 lowed them about from tree to tree for about half an hour, often 

 within 50 or 60 feet of them. They always lit at the base of the tree 

 and worked up a few feet, seldom going more than 5 feet up, I 

 think. They hopped backward and downward a great deal, and often 

 they lifted and partly spread their wings. Their motions were 

 limber and undulating, marked by a certain awkward grace, without 

 the stiffness of the smaller woodpeckers. The crests were elevated 

 occasionally. I noticed no difference in the markings, but I was 

 then unacquainted with the sexual differences of the species, and I 

 cannot say whether or not they were male and female. They occa- 

 sionally uttered a faint wahh^ wahk^ wahk^ in a soft, conversational 

 tone ; but it was for the most part a silent performance." 



The bird drums a roll, as do other woodpeckers. The only other 

 drumming of comparable intensity is that of the yellow-bellied sap- 

 sucker, but commonly the pileated woodpecker's performance is so 

 heavy as to be unmistakable. Often the drumming consists not of 

 a roll but of slow heavy beats. Dr. Sutton (1930) writes: "On May 

 19, 1925, * * * J heard a male drumming for over an hour 

 * * * During the whole period there was a noticeable similarity 

 of the performances * * * At least fifty or sixty times there was 

 an introductory, rapidly given roll; then a pause, followed by three 

 distinct blows, * * * giving much the impression of a queer 

 rhythm beat upon an aboriginal drum." With this the description 

 of the drumming of the sapsucker given by Dr. Harry C. Ober- 

 liolser (1896b) may be compared. 



Ernest Waters Vickers (1915) gives the following description of 

 "the masterly roll of the great log-cock" : 



This roll is composed of twelve strokes or blows, formiug an ascending and 

 descending climax; increasing in rapidity and volume to the middle and dying 

 in force and rapidity just as it began. While the bird may not give the 

 complete roll, may break off anywhere, it is always, so far as I have heard, 

 a part of the above * * * ^ mellow yet powerful cellular jar to which 

 the whole wooded heart of the forest makes echoing response — a solemn and 

 ancient sound. * * * 



Thus * * * I heard one drumming far away on a sounding board of 

 peculiar musical resonance and power to carry * * * i had often heard 

 this roll a full mile and a half away ; once or twice I had even heard it in 

 the house with doors and windows closed \ * * * This old sounding-board 

 was the hollow limb or arm of a big tulip tree or "white wood" flung out 



