176 BULLETIN 174, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



at right angle from tlie trunk 60 or 70 feet from the ground, a mere shell 

 as appeared * * * sound and hard and barkless. The spot where he 

 hammered was white where the weathered gray fibers had been beaten off 

 by constant use. * * * 



That April day * * * he sat upright upon the limb grasping it firmly, 

 * * * poising himself, making a motion or two as a neat penman about 

 to begin writing starts with a preliminary flourish, struck the limb some- 

 what lightly at first and deliberately, accelerating both speed and power, 

 diminishing to stop as he started. He then paused to listen to the effect, 

 attend to the echoes, or wait for the response of his mate perhaps, which 

 occasionally rolled back from somewhere away east in the woods. He would 

 hop about a trifle, cock his head examining his neighborhood a little, dress 

 his feathers or search for parasites; — but not for long did he forget what 

 he was there for; then gather himself up for another reverberation. With 

 such energy did he hammer that his whole body shook and his wings quivered. 

 He fairly hurled himself wildly at it. The great loose hair-like scarlet crest 

 flowed in the sun and his scarlet moustache added to his noble and savage 

 appearance." 



Nesting. — The birds are very tenacious of their nesting places, 

 returning year after year to the same location and even to the same 

 tree trunk. It is usual to find several nesting holes (and, perhaps, 

 winter quarters too) within an area, say, 100 yards square. In 

 such preference, held to even when the forest has been partially cut 

 down, the reason probably lies why nests sometimes are found in 

 open places. Commonly, however, the nesting stub stands in heavy 

 forest and within the shadow of the leafy canopy. There are a few 

 records of nests on mountain sides and ridges, but, typically, the 

 nesting tree stands in valley or bottomland and near the margin of 

 lake or stream or in a swamp. The boles of trees riddled and fur- 

 rowed in the pursuit of food are in no case used for nesting. An 

 ant-infested trunk may be supposed to be definitely not suitable for 

 such use. 



Data are at hand upon 33 nests, from points widely scattered 

 throughout the range. Of these, one cavity was sunk in a large 

 dead hemlock, one in a dead pitch pine, one in a telegraph pole (an 

 oddity — Roberts, 1932), and 30 in the boles of deciduous trees. 

 Three are reported as dug in living trees; four are more particu- 

 larly reported as in the dead tops of living trees; the remaining 

 20-odd were, certainly most of them, and (for all that appears) all of 

 them, in dead stubs. Of the 30, eight were in beech trees; six 

 in poplar, and a seventh in tulip poplar. Three were in birches, 

 three in oaks, three in hickories. Two were in sugar maples and 

 one in a red maple. One was in an ash, one in an elm, and one in 

 a basswood. One was as low as 15 feet from the ground; three as 

 high as 70 feet. The average height was about 45 feet. 



The trunk at the point where the hole is drilled will ordinarily be 

 from 15 to 20 inches in diameter. The hole commonly, though not 



