EGG CHECK LIST OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 65 
all cases three eggs is the usual complement, rarely four, and in a great 
many in varying stages of incubation. The ground-color of the eggs is 
extremely variable. In some it is of a cream, in others approaching buff. 
In four sets before me there is a striking variation in the distribution of 
the markings. They are usually marked, chiefly at the larger end, with 
large blotches of red and reddish-brown. This, however, is only charac- 
teristic in one of these sets, while in the others the markings are simply 
very small dots sparingly sprinkled over the surface; in some these dot- 
tings are scarcely visible, giving them the appearance of an almost un- 
spotted surface. Six eggs exhibit the following measurements: .72 by 
o5, 60by 153,0-70° DY 452, .04 by -53,:.69 by +52, -70 by -53. “There is 
scarcely any perceptible difference between the eggs of 7vaz//i and those of 
Acadicus. The western eggs of Zvaz//z probably have a darker ground, 
and the spots are more vivid, but I do not believe any one can tell them 
apart with certainty. 
B61.  Picus pubescens. 
Downy Woodpecker. 
Mr. Thomas M. Earl while on a collecting trip succeeded in obtaining 
a set of this species in Green County, Ohio, May to, 1884. He found 
the nest constructed in the favorite haunts of this very cunning little 
climber—in the decayed limb of an apple-tree, some ten feet from the 
ground. What is remarkable concerning the nesting place was, that just 
above the entrance.of the nest another hole had been excavated and then 
filled with a hickory nut. It appeared as though it was the first hole and 
did not, for some reason, prove satisfactory and was deserted. But how 
the hickory nut got there is a question, as there was no reason to believe 
that it had been placed there by a human hand. The first excavation 
was as fresh as the one just below it. The eggs are of a pure glossy 
white, usually four in number. The four eggs collected by Mr. Earl 
Medea KespecuVvely's +75 Dy .62,...77' by.62, .73 by .On, .73 by..62.° I 
fail to find the eggs of this bird so large as many authors have quoted 
them. 
301. HHylotomus pileatus. 
Pileated Woodpecker; Logcock. 
The nest of the Pileated Woodpecker is an excavation dug out by 
the bill of the bird in a large limb or trunk of a high tree either living or 
dead. The eggs are of a rounded oval shape, glistening white, unmarked. 
Mr. Gilbert Siddell, who spent the greater portion of the summer season 
(1884) in Clinton County, Illinois, examined a large number of the nesting 
