Mar. 1891.] 



AND OOLOGIST. 



35 



got back to my pack, which I had gladly laid 

 down while I was anathematizing the weather 

 and tlie fates which brought me here, and 

 hiniting for water, of which we apparently 

 had too much already, for the whole side of 

 the mountain was one vast sponge. 



We found Nash looking at a liole in the side 

 of a tree, from which emanated a succession 

 of cries which sounded like a troop of angry 

 cats, and holding in his baud a pair of Black- 

 b.acked Tliree-toed Woodpeckers (No. 400). 



The hole was dug into the solid, green wood 

 of a spruce ten inches in diameter, about 

 twenty feet from the ground. The entrance 

 was one and a half inches in diameter, and the 

 hole was ten inches deep, and with one and a 

 half inches of wood between it and the outside. 



Nest was composed of rotten chips and 

 inoss. Width of cavity, five inches. 



I find the following notes taken at the time: 

 Contents of stomach, pine larvje and remains 

 of insects. Iris, red-brown. The young have 

 a white, gristly appendage on either side of 

 the lower mandible at the base of the bill, as 

 shown in the engraving. 



A SiclP, liill ntailnU. 



II IWiiltT sill''. I'twcr in.indiltlp. adult. 



C I'luhT side, luwtT tiianililili*, yniiii;^:. 



BILL or BLACK-BACKED THREE-TOEO WOODPECKER. 



I Kn;2;ravi'il liy *'. .1. .Ma\'iiaril.) 



Tliis peculiar formation has apparently never 

 before been noticed, at least I can find no 

 record of the fact. Win. Brewster, in his 

 "Description of First Plumages," makes no 

 note of finding it on a skin taken .July .".1st, 

 although it is possible that it might shrink 

 away in drying, or might disapjiear before 

 that period of development, as his specimen 

 was four weeks older than mine. Unfortun- 

 ately my specimens were not preserved, but I 

 have a photograph of them taken while the 

 birds were alive, which shows the formation 

 quite plainly. 



Contents of stomach, remains of insects and 

 bits of coarse gravel. The generative organs 



showed quite plainly . All three of the birds, 

 which made up the complement, were males. 



The cut on first page shows the character of 

 the country where the nest was situated. 



We then, having paid full attention to this 

 nest, ag lin turned our footsteps down the bill, 

 and soon came across Ripley's Brook, which 

 empties into the Saco River, near where we 

 entered the woods. 



It was our opinion, which was later con- 

 firmed, that this brook had its rise on the 

 ridge which separates the two valleys, and so 

 we turned our steps toward its head- waters. 



This little valley, or swampy run, is filled 

 with a luxuriant growth of underbrush and 

 small growth, the high spruce having been cut 

 off by the loggers. 



At P.M. we concluded that we had done 

 about as much as was desirable for that day, 

 and as we had found dry wood, and water in 

 l>lenty, and saw no immediate prospect of 

 finding dry land, we threw off our packs and 

 concluded to lay up for the night. 



The weather had settled down to a light, 

 drizzling rain, so while one peeled birch bark 

 for a cover, the other two gathered poles for 

 a bed, twigs for a mattress, and wood for a 

 fire, which was soon blazing merrily before 

 the camp, and throwing its sparks up into the 

 darkness, which had by this time gathered 

 close around us. 



What a difference the camp-fire makes; a 

 few moments before we were silently digging 

 away, pulling and hauling at logs and bark, 

 and anathematizing the fates which had got 

 us into such a scrape, and now we were busily 

 and happily eng.aged in preparing supper, and 

 laughing and chatting over the i)leasures and 

 trials of the day. 



A comparison of notes showed the following 

 birds observed that day: Thrush sp., one; 

 Broad-winged Hawk (?) one; Flicker, several; 

 Three-toed Woodpecker, several ; Uowny Wood- 

 pecker, one; Hairy Woodpecker, one; Yellow- 

 bellied Woodpecker, one; Indigo Bird; White- 

 throated .Sparrow, abundant; Blue .Jay; Wren; 

 Magnolia Warbler; t^hestnut-sided Warbler; 

 Yellow-rumped Warbler; Nashville Warbler; 

 Redstart. 



The White-throated Sparrows are very plen- 

 tiful in these high altitudes, and their sweet 

 voices can bo heard calling to each other all 

 the day long; and when I awoke after mid- 

 night, when the camp-fire had gone down, 

 and, the clouds having passed on, the stars 

 shone down through the thin branches, I 

 heard the voice of one of them calling from 



