THE OOLOGIST. 



85 



The Oologist. 



A Montlily Magazine Devoted to 

 OOLOGY AND ORNITHOLOGY. 



FRANK H. LATTIN, Editor and Publisher, 

 ALBION, N. Y. 



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The Red Cockaded Woodpecker. 



{Dry abates borealis.) 



It seems that very little is known of 

 the habits of this interesting bird, most 

 ornithological writers taking their 

 statements from the older ornitholo- 

 gists, Aububon. Wilson and others. 



The range of this bird is a vei;y nar- 

 row one, it being confined to the most 

 southern pine forests of Florida, Louis- 

 iana and the intervening states, and 



hence its specific name, borealL-', is 

 somewhat of a misnomer. 



My first acquaintance with the Red 

 Cockaded Woodpecker was in Decem- 

 ber, '93, in St. Helena Parish, La., 

 where I found it to be rather common 

 in the high pine woods and I had am- 

 ple opportunity to observe the bird 

 and its habits. This Woodpecker is in 

 size between the Hairy and the Downy, 

 or about the size of a Yellow-bellied, 

 although of stouter build. 



When it is a good way up on a pine 

 tree it appears entirely grayish-black 

 and on closer inspection bars of white 

 extending across the back and wings 

 and a streak of white on either side of 

 the head are noticed, but no red is seen 

 until the bird is killed and in your 

 hand, when a red line between the 

 black cap of the head and the white 

 face becomes visible. In the female 

 this red is wanting. The bird has less 

 white than any of the genus and on, 

 this account may be easily distin- 

 guished. 



The birds are usually found in the 

 pines that ai'e close to clearings, espec- 

 ially if there are dead ones, and are 

 rarely seen in deeper woods. In sev- 

 eral instances I found the Red Cockad- 

 ed Woodpecker in company with the 

 Downy, oi* at least on the same tree, 

 and generally the diminutive Brown- 

 headed Nuthatch (SiWap^siY/rt) was to 

 be found in the immediate vicinity. 

 The Red Cockaded Woodpeckers are 

 remarkably quick and their dodging 

 proclivities baffled me for a while in 

 my attempts to shoot one, as they al- 

 ways kept on the other side of the tree. 

 They usually start at the bottom of a 

 dead pine and make their way up to 

 the top, but more frequently are seen 

 in the upper branches of the live tree, 

 sometimes in the "bud" itself. 



I was told that the birds were com- 

 mon there the year around and was 

 shown several of their nests in dead 

 pine stubs on the edge of the woods. 



