180 BULLETIN 17 4, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



At the time when hatching was near, and afterward when the 

 yonng were newly hatched, one or the other of the parent birds 

 was constantly present in the nesting chamber and, the weather 

 being warm, was much of the time perched immediately within the 

 hole. And I then realized the value of the larger dimensions of 

 the upper portion of the chamber. The waiting bird was con- 

 stantly moving about, thrusting its head out and withdrawing it 

 again, turning about within the chamber so that it had free view 

 outward, jjreening, reaching upward with its foot and scratching 

 its head. And all this movement was free because the space was 

 wide. 



Each of the parents seemed to have its OAvn path of approach to 

 the nest. One of them came almost invariably to a particular posi- 

 tion on the trunk, about 6 feet below and to the right, and hopped 

 up thence to the entrance, but the other bird followed a different 

 course. 



I was impressed, too, with the comparative silence of the birds at 

 their nesting tree. Such small converse as took place there (a 

 flicker-like wuck-a-wuck — and it occurred irregularly) v/as so soft 

 as to be scarcely audible to human ears at a distance of fifty yards. 



The feeding of the young is by regurgitation; and, while the 

 young are still small and remain at the bottom of the nesting cavity, 

 the parents may be seen to follow an interesting routine. The in- 

 coming bird hops to the hole, perches on the ridge of the entrance 

 passageway, and then swings inward and downward, at the same 

 time elevating the posterior part of its body until the tail presses 

 upon the outer upper rim of the hole. In this position, evidently, 

 the parent's bill meets those of the nestlings. This attitude is 

 maintained often for as much as a minute, and while it is main- 

 tained the body of the bird may be seen to shake convulsively — 

 plainly indicating that regurgitation is in progress. 



When the young are small, the parent, after feeding, does not im- 

 mediately leave the nest but awaits the incoming of its mate. It 

 then glides away on wide-spread wings; and, while I suspected that 

 the excrement of the young is carried in the bill and dropped, I 

 was unable to detect this. Quite possibly, in this early stage at 

 least, the excrement is swallowed by the parent. 



Charles W. Townsend (1925) gave account of a family observed in 

 Worcester County, Mass., when the young were well developed and 

 nearly ready to leave the nest : 



On June 11, 1924, I spent five hours within twenty-five feet of the base of 

 the stub, unconcealed, and on June 14, six hours, but after the first hour I 

 took up a position about fifty yards away, partially concealed by bushes. 



My observations may be summarized as follows: the young were fed eleven 

 times at the first visit, four times at the second when the adults acted in 



