THE OSPREY. 



145 



sonian Institution, at Washington, which I recently 

 visited, is a specimen trunk of a tree used for the 

 same purpose. Though these peculiar habits of the 

 White-breasted Nuthatch may have been discovered 

 and mentioned by other naturalists since Wilson's 

 time, I have made an etiort to lind them but have 

 not succeeded. 



These few notes will show that though ornithology 



is now studied to a very fine point, yet there are still, 

 no doubt, many facts (no matter how infinitely small,) 

 about nur birds which naturalists do not know, and 

 will not be found by much search, but only by acci- 

 dent ; and in the cold, dreary months of winter we 

 may find many bright spots, if we only look for them, 

 as I did in my delightful winter-study of the Nut- 

 hatch 



THE WOODPECKERS OF MARYLAND. 



VVM. H. FISHER, BALTIMORE, MT>. 



THE family Pnidi, is represented in Maryland by 

 seven species, as follows ; Dvyohates villosus. 

 Hairy Woodpecker : This Woodpecker is res- 

 ident throughout the State. I have never found it 

 common, but it seems to be more plentiful in the 

 lower counties than in the neighborhood of Baltimore. 

 As a rule, it is a shy and noisy bird, fond of the woods. 

 Only on one occasion have I found its nest, and then 

 I was unable to reach it, as it was about thirty feet 

 up in a large Poplar, and out in a dead limb. 



Dryobates pubeaens. Downy Woodpecker : This 

 miniature of thepreceding species is far more plenti 

 ful, and far more social in its habits. It is often 

 found associated with other birds, in the woods, the 

 orchards, along fence rows, and not infrequently in the 

 cities. It generally excavates its nest either in a Wil- 

 low stub or in an Apple tree, depositing four or five 

 eggs. Like the Hairy, it is resident. 



SpliyrapicHS varhis. Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Yel- 

 low-bellied Woodpecker : Our only true Sapsucker, 

 and is found with us as a spring and fall migrant, 

 never very abundant. It may be resident on the 

 eastern shore, as I have killed them there during the 

 winter. 



Ceop/i/aus pilcntus, Pileated Woodpecker, "Cock 

 of the Wood," "Woodhen," etc.: This large species 

 is rare, but resident wherever found. I have heard 

 it while fishing along the Potomac River, in Frederick 

 County, but have never found it at all abundant ex- 

 cept in Somerset County, where, in a day's tramp in 

 the neighborhood of the heavily wooded swamps, you 

 are almost sure to see some five or six individuals. 



November 23, 1894, while shooting in this county, 

 we saw a " Woodhen" fly to a large Black Gum tree 

 in an extensive swamp known as the "Blue Heron 

 Swamp." On approaching the tree we saw nothing 

 of the bird, but a slight tap caused it to fly from a 

 hole about three-quarters of the way up the tree 

 There were three holes, all close together, and from 

 their size I took them to be made by this Woodpecker. 

 They were between forty and fifty feet up ; and, as 

 near as I could judge from the ground, were about 

 four inches in diameter. 



"Early in June, '95, a nest was found by Mr. L. 

 D Willis, near Church Creek, Dorchester County 

 It contained 3 eggs ; 2 nearly hatched, the other rot- 

 ten. It measured 2 feet, 2 inches deep, by 8 inches 



in diameter ; the entrance was 5^ inches across, and 

 20 feet from the ground, in a rotten stub " — Kirk- 

 wood, Birds of Maryland. 



I am told that twenty years ago you could see 

 twenty-five of these birds in Somerset County where 

 now you see one, but as the heavy swamps are being 

 cleared off the Woodpeckers are gradually disappear- 

 ing. 



Mclancrpcs crytJiroccphalus, Red-headed Woodpeck- 

 er : This bird was at one time one of the most famil- 

 iar features of the landscape in almost every orchard, 

 and along the country roads ; but of late years they 

 have been by no means so abundant. It is resident, 

 but is not so common in the winter It often exca- 

 vates its nest in the orchard, but I have more fre- 

 quently found them in the tops of dead or decaying 

 Chestnut or Ash trees. Once I saw one in a telegraph 

 pole. Frequently they use the same hole from year 

 to year. 



May 26, 1894, I discovered a nest in the limb of a 

 decaying Chestnut tree, and in the same limb, about 

 ten feet below it, was another hole occupied by a 

 pair of Sparrow Hawks. The two families seemed 

 to get along very amicably, as I never saw any signs 

 of war between them, and frequently a red head 

 would be seen protruding from the upper hole when 

 one of the Hawks would be flying to the lower one. 



Many persons mistake the immature birds, before 

 they get the red head, for the female of this species. 

 Mt'lancrpcs caro/iiiensis, Red-bellied Woodpecker : 

 A very handsome bird, rare in the vicinity of Balti- 

 more, and generally occurring in our upper counties 

 as a winter visitant It is resident in Somerset 

 County. March 25, 1891, I shot one, a male, in How- 

 ard County. Again, January 13, 1895, a very cold, 

 windy day, with light drifting snow at intervals, I 

 saw another, this time also a male. He did not .seem 

 to fancy the snow, and clung very closely to the trunk 

 of the tree for protection. 



I have only met with about half a dozen individuals 

 outside of Somerset County, but there, for the last 

 fourteen years, in either November, December or 

 January, I have found them to be very abundant. 

 According to my observations, they prefer the low, 

 swampy woodlands and clearings, only occasionally 

 being found in the isolated tree in the fields. They 

 are very noisy, and their note "chaw-chaw," gener 



