74 



THE OSPREY. 



pieces of bark and peering behind others as if in 

 search of food. Then, very deHberately and with 

 an air of the most perfect nonchalance, he moved 

 slowly away from the hole and around the trunk. 

 Just as he was disappearing my companion made a 

 slight noise and the bird at once flew and disappeared 

 in the woods. We waited some fifteen minutes for 

 his return but nothing more was seen or heard of 

 him on this occasion. I had used the last of my 

 plates before finding this nest and as I wished to 

 photograph it we left it undisturbed. 



Our next visit to the pond was on June 4th when 

 I spent the greater part of the day at our 

 Woodpecker's nest, taking six photographs, three 

 from the water (with poles six feet in length attached 

 to the legs of the tripod,) 

 and three from the land just 

 within the edge of the woods. 

 Five of these pictures show 

 the male Woodpecker cling- 

 ing to the trunk just below 

 the hole. He was in the nest 

 when we first reached it at 

 about nine a. m., and he re- 

 mained near it the whole 

 time up to three p. m , al- 

 though he frequently flew 

 off into the woods for a dis- 

 tance of fifty to one hundred 

 yards and drummed for his 

 mate, but always without 

 bringing any response audi- 

 ble to our ears. 



I have rarely seen a nest- 

 ing bird so alert and keen of 

 hearing as was this Ficoides. 

 The sound of our voices or 

 the slightest noise made by 

 an oar or paddle would bring 

 him at once to the entrance 

 of the hole, even when we 

 were forty or fifty yards away, and every few minutes 

 when we were sitting perfectly still he would look out 

 turning his head in every direction. He would not 

 leave the hole, however, until we were within a few 

 yards of the foot of the tree and after he had drum- 

 med awhile he would return to the stub while we were 

 sitting near its base with the camera directed towards 

 it. Thus I had several good opportunities to photo- 

 graph him but each required a wait of nearly or quite 

 half an hour, with the mosquitoes and black flies bit- 

 ing viciously. 



On returning to the stub the bird would usually 

 strike against it about two feet below the hole and 

 reaching it by two or three quick, upward hops 

 would cling to its lower edge, alternately looking in 

 and down at us. The click of the camera shutter 

 did not alarm him but when I moved forward to 





MALK WOODPECKER AT NEST HOLE 



change the plate he invariably flew. He did not 

 once enter the nest while we were near the tree, nor 

 did he again attempt to mislead us by pecking at the 

 bark, evidently realizing that this ruse had failed. 

 When he flew back into the woods he always took 

 one of two courses and along each he invariably 

 alighted not only on the same trees but on the same 

 spot on each tree. He had one particular place on 

 the trunk of a large spruce where he would spend 

 ten or fifteen minutes at a time pluming himself and 

 watching us, before returning to the nest. His 

 favorite drumming place was against a short, upright, 

 dry prong (a lost leading shoot) of a living spruce 

 but he also drummed on a tall naked stub and on 

 more distant trees which were beyond our view. 



The spruce stood on the edge 

 of the pond about twenty 

 yards from the nest. 



I had abundant opportun- 

 ities for studying the drum- 

 ming call to day. It varied 

 in duration from one to two 

 seconds (never running over 

 or under these limits) but 

 was usually one and a half 

 to one and three quarters 

 seconds. The intervals be- 

 tween the calls were too ir- 

 regular to be worth record- 

 ing The first three or four 

 taps were slightly slower and 

 more disconnected than the 

 remaining ones but the gen- 

 eral effect was that of a uni- 

 form roll similar to that 

 made by the Downy and the 

 Hairy Woodpecker, but less 

 loud and penetrating. Still 

 it carried well and under fa- 

 vorable conditions could be 

 heard fully one quarter of a 

 mile away. 



My previous impression that Picoidi's ajiiericanus is 

 a very much less active and restless bird than P. 

 arcticiis, was fully confirmed by the behavior of this 

 male who was almost if not quite as slow and lethargic 

 of movement as a Sapsucker He would spend min- 

 utes at a time clinging to one spot and when he 

 moved up the tree trunks it was in a singularly slow, 

 deliberate manner. Only while at or near the nest 

 did he show real animation. 



I did not hear him make any vocal sound whatever 

 to-day, but as he flew from tree to tree the rustling 

 of his wings was always audible and often very dis- 

 tinct if not really loud. It was verv like the rustle 

 of heavy silk. 



1 took my last photograph at three p. m. Either 

 it proved too much for the patience of my subject 





