280 



THE OOLOGIST 



The Northern Pileated Woodpecker. 



May 7, 1913, a friend and I left State 

 College, Pennsylvania, for a moun- 

 tain valley, situated on the northern 

 border of Huntington county, and 

 about fourteen miles distant from the 

 college. The country here is much 

 covered with timber slashings, which 

 provide excellent abodes for the 

 Northern Pileated Woodpecker. 



Late in the afternoon of this day we 

 reached a low, wet timber slashing 

 in which there were many dead snags 

 that showed evidence of former nest- 

 ing places of this Woodpecker. We 

 soon found an old logging road by 

 which were enabled to penetrate the 

 thick undergrowth of laurel and rho- 

 dodendron. We had just crossed a 

 swift stream when my friend caught 

 sight of a Pileated Woodpecker as it 

 silently flitted from the trunk of a 

 large sugar maple tree that stood by 

 our road. The presence of this bird 

 gave us great hope of finding a nest, 

 so we carefully scanned all the old 

 snags in sight. Evening was now 

 fast approaching and we made our 

 way down the valley to a farm house 

 where we spent the night. 



On the following morning we arose 

 early and started on our way to the 

 haunts of the Pileateds. No sooner 

 had we entered the slashing than we 

 heard the peculiar notes of a Wood- 

 pecker as he called from some dis- 

 tant hemlock spike. The search for 

 a nest was begun where we left off 

 last evening. On account of the thick 

 undergrowth we found it difficult to 

 reach and properly examine many of 

 the dead snags. Upon approaching a 

 forty-foot, leaning, dead red maple 

 snag I could discern two newly exca- 

 vated entrance holes; and beneath 

 these there were many large chips. 

 This snag stood by a small open 

 space, close to a clump of young hem- 

 locks. Vigorous pounding on the 



stump failed to arouse the Wood- 

 pecker, but as the holes appeared so 

 new, I decided to investigate them. I 

 procured the climbing irons and as- 

 cended to the lower cavity; it was 

 new, but only slightly excavated. As 

 I neared the upper cavity, which was 

 thirty feet above the ground, my 

 friend called out from below, "there 

 she is!" A female Woodpecker left 

 the nest and hurriedly secluded her- 

 self among the neighboring trees. 

 From her hiding place she sent forth 

 vigorous alarm notes which soon 

 brought the male bird to the vicinity. 

 I carefully examined the nest-hole and 

 found that it contained four large, 

 glossy, white eggs, quite fresh, and 

 resting on soft chips of wood. 



The entrance hole measured three 

 and one-fourth inches wide; it was 

 not circular, but ovate. The cavity 

 turned downward after extending in 

 for an inch or more. The eggs rested 

 fifteen inches below the entrance. 



While I was at the nest the female 

 bird flew quite near, clucking and 

 making a great fuss. She soon set- 

 tled herself on the higher part of an 

 old snag, from which she sent forth 

 her loud cries. 



With a camera I secured a number 

 of views of the nesting snag and its 

 surroundings. The two days follow- 

 ing were spent in other parts of the 

 mountain valley searching for nests 

 of this Woodpecker. Two more pairs 

 were located and a promising looking 

 nest found. It was inaccessable to 

 me, however. 



Throughout the mountainous coun- 

 try of central Pennsylvania many bare 

 snags show the remnants of former 

 nesting sites of these great Wood- 

 peckers. However, the lovely birds 

 are seldom met with, and it will not 

 be long until they will all vanish from 

 our forests. 



S. S. Dickey. 

 Waynesburg, Pa. 



