117 



paneled, and crouching low upon the branch. Its ordinary notes are 

 quite commonly heard at night as well as during the day. 



Dimensions. — Average measurements of nine specimens : length, 

 11-83; stretch, 16'o5; wing, o-oO; tail, 6-26; bill from nostril, -74; 

 gape, 1-27; tarsus, 102; middle toe, -79; middle toe and its claw, 

 1-06. 



119. Coccyzusamericanus (Linne). Yellow-billed Cuckoo. 

 A summer resident; breeds; much less numerous than the Black- 

 billed Cuckoo. Arrives early in May (14, 1876; 6, 1878; 10, 1880), 

 and stays until late in September (23, 1874). 



Dimensions — Average measurements of four female specimens: 

 length, 12-20; stretch, 17-04; wing, 570; tail, €'20; bill from nostril, 

 'ir ' "' - 



Family, PICIDJE. 



120. Pious villosus (Linne). Hairy Woodpecker. A per- 

 manent resident; sometimes abundant; breeds, but not plentifully, 

 A nest which I found on Consook Island, in the Hudson River, on 

 May 5, 1878, was built in a natural cavity in a small tree, about four 

 feet from the ground, and contrary to Hairy's usual habit, it was 

 warmly built of grass and strips of bark, whereas the eggs are com- 

 monly deposited right on the chips, without any attempt at a nest. 

 The entrance was through a knot-hole, and neither it nor the interior 

 had been enlarged by the birds. The nest rested on a mass of decayed 

 black muck at the bottom of the hole. 



Dimensions. — Average measurements of twelve specimens : length, 

 9-40; stretch, 15-66; wing, 4-78; tail, 330; culmen, 1-22; bill from 

 nostril, 1-00; gape, 132; tarsus, -84; middle toe, -57; its claw, '40. 

 .121. Pious pubescens (iinne). Downy Woodpecker. A per- 

 manent resident ; abundant; breeds. 



The Downy Woodpeckers, though always abundant, are especially 

 so during the first warm days of spring-time, when they become 

 almost gregarious, and are apparently on the move northward. Their 

 full complement of eggs is usually deposited during the first two 

 weeks of May, although I have found their eggs as late as May 30 

 (1876). 



Downy is a very active, industrious bird, and perhaps this is the 

 reason why he experiences no special discomfort from cold during the 

 bleak winter season. At night he is comfortably housed in a hole, 

 which he digs expressly for that purpose. What a knowing cove he 

 is ! Alwaj^s, so far as my experience goes, he places the entrance to his 

 burrow so as to face the sunny south. Though Downy is a wanderer 

 like the rest of his tribe, yet, whenever he takes a journey into a far 



