34 THE FUCKER. 



while about Ponkapog it breeds in orchards, swamps, thinly or 

 densely wooded ground, with only one instance of a living 

 evergreen, but any other tree living or dead. At Cornish Me., 

 all found in trees standing away from the thick woods, mostly 

 apple orchards ; and about Pittsfield, almost any locality, ex- 

 cept perhaps the deeper woods, along the shores of the ponds, 

 especially in overflowed ash swamps it is found. From Ohio 

 westward the apple orchard is a favorite with the poplar, wil- 

 low, maple, oak, elm, walnut, Cottonwood, etc., more or less 

 resorted to, according to availability. Mr. R. M. Strong states 

 that, like many other species, it is rapidly adapting itself to 

 civilization, and gives an instance of a bird excavating a nest 

 about five feet up in the trunk of a shade tree standing on one 

 of the most traveled streets of Oberlin, Ohio. At Glen EHyn, 

 111., Mr. Benj. T. Gault has found that in addition to old and 

 neglected orchard trees, old and partly decayed white oaks, 

 black jacks, and both dead and living elms and poplar are 

 usuall}' selected. At Iowa City, la., Mr. Paul Bartsch says 

 that while orchards are the favorite, at times it seeks a more 

 lofty location, such as is afforded by the bare approaches of 

 that giant of the forest, the sycamore ; and at Grinnell the 

 favorite trees are the box elder, linden, soft maple, cotton- 

 wood, white willow, poplar, in the order named, and in fact 

 almost any tree if it is sufficiently deca\'ed to be easily worked. 

 Summing up the evidence, it is found to be an inhabitant of 

 the open country rather than the deep woods in the north and 

 west. 



The preceding maj- be called the natural nesting sites, but 

 at the same time does not complete the list of available situa- 

 tions for this remarkable bird. Gate posts, fence posts, tele- 

 graph, telephone and electric light posts are frequently utilized 

 on the treeless islands and beaches of the east as well as the 

 prairies of the west. Mr. J. H. Bowles writes that on Cape 

 Cod large numbers of poles are literally honeycombed with 

 holes, some of which are used for nesting purposes. It has 

 been found breeding far out on the prairie in an old wagon 

 hub, surrounded by weeds ; also in barrels, and one instance 

 of an excavation of the regulation size in a hay stack is on 

 record ; another nested in a crevice of an unused chimney for 

 several years ; and stranger yet it has been found more than 



