38 



THE OOLOGIST. 



After sand paperiug it, I finished it off 

 with a coat of black enamel. 



Another tray was finished off with 

 cherry stain and another was cut out of 

 cedar and left with the natural finish. 



These trays have a few advantages 

 over tho paste-board variety. They do 

 not warp and can be had of any size or 

 shape. They can be made to fit the cab- 

 inet drawer very snugly and produce a 

 beautiful effect. Imagine, reader, a tray 

 finished off in black enamel, filled Avith 

 red cedar sawdust, and a set of four 

 beautiful, blue eggs of the Wood Thrush 

 reposing therein. 



The trays can be made very cheaply. 

 Poplar wood is the best and perhaps the 

 cheapest. For a small amount, an inch 

 board can l^e bought that will make a 

 great many. After drssing the board, 

 a sixteenth of an inch on each side, it 

 may be cut into the blocks of the size 

 desired. Then they are ready for the 

 lathe. 



I had my trays cut out very cheaply 

 at the rate of one dollar per hundred at a 

 cabinet shop. These I finished off ac- 

 cording to my taste and time. 



Next montli, T may say a few words 

 concerning the data I use, providing 

 the editor does not consign this to the 

 waste basket. 



W. E. Loucks. 

 Peoria, Ills. 



Pileated Woodpecker. 



I read the article on the Pileated 

 Woodpecker in the last number of the 

 0()i>OGiST, and would like to make 

 known to the readers of this paper 

 some of my notes on this bird. 



I had read consideralde about how 

 shy and retiring it was and how it dis- 

 api)eared from its haunts as civilization 

 advanced. Tlie first time I came across 

 this King of Northern Woodpeckers 

 was Oct. 5, 1888. 1 was at Trout Brook 

 about twenty-five miles from Minnea- 

 polis, hunting gray .squirrels. I was in 



a small grove of trees, near a traveled 

 road and within three hundred yai'ds of 

 a farm house. I had just shot a large 

 grey squirrel, when I saw a large black 

 Ifird fiy from a neighboring tree and 

 alight on a fence close by, Avhich upon 

 being shot proved to be a Pileated 

 Woodpecker. Upon showing my bird 

 to a farmer, he said one of his boys had 

 shot one two weeks before in the same 

 place. 



The next lime was June 5, 1891 at 

 Buflalo, AVright Co., Minn. I Avas at 

 Buffalo Lake after some of those five 

 pound bass, which inhabit its w'aters. 

 One night after a hard days work with 

 the rod, we were taking it easy and tell- 

 ing a few "that reminds me" yai'ns. 

 One of the party told of a Heron roost, 

 that he had visited a short time back, 

 and a colony of Woodpeckers, that he 

 had found down near Pelican Lake. 



As I was very desirous of securing 

 another specimen I started for Pelican 

 Lake the next jnorniug at daylight. 

 After an hour's drive I put up at a 

 farmhouse, and went across the fields 

 to the woods. At the edge of the 

 woods from on old cotton -wood stub, 

 about forty feet high I saAV a Pileated 

 Woodpecker fiy. I had found my 

 birds and now to get one. I followed 

 in chase but could not get a shot so I 

 returned to the nest, sat down and 

 waited for the Woodpecker to come 

 back. It Avas a long Avait, but at about 

 noon back he came and ficAV upon the 

 top of a tall cotton-Avood; it Avas an 

 easy shot: he is now No. 213 in mj^ cab- 

 inet. 



NoAV the cottouAvood stul) in Avhicli 

 this Woodpecker had its nest is within 

 three hundred feet of a farm house, 

 Avith a path running directly under 

 the tree. 



In these two eases Avhich haAe come 

 under my notice, it Avill be seen that 

 these Woodpeckers do not ahvays shun 

 civilization; or has my experience been 

 entirely different. 



W. F. Dealing, 

 Minneapolis, Minn. 



