PICID.E — THE WOODPECKERS. 



551 



Columbia, etc.) have no trace of the white spots on ends of outer primaries, 

 always found in eastern specimens. 



Habits. No member of this large family has a wider distribution than 

 the Pileated Woodpecker, extending from the Gulf of Mexico to the ex- 

 tremest limits of the northern forests, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific. 

 It seems to be a resident everywhere but in its extreme northern localities, 

 rather than a migratory species. Tliere are specimens in the Smithsonian 

 collection from Nelson Kiver, on the north, to St. Johns Eiver, Florida, on 

 the south, and from Pennsylvania on the east to the Eio Grande and the Co- 

 lumbia on tbe west. Sir John Kichardson {Fcmna Boreali- Americana, II, p. 

 304) speaks of it as resident all the year in the interior of the fur countries, 

 up to the 6 2d or 68d parallels, rarely appearing near Hudson's Bay, but fre- 

 quenting the gloomiest recesses of the forests that skirt the Eocky Moun- 

 tains. Dr. Woodhouse, in his Eeport on the natural history of the expedi- 

 tion down the Zuiii and the Colorado Eivers, speaks of this Woodpecker as 

 having been found abundant in the Indian Territory, Texas, and New 

 Mexico. Neither Dr. Gambel nor Dr. Heermann give it in their lists of the 

 birds of California, nor does Dr. Newberry mention meeting with it in his 

 Eeport of the zoology of his route. Dr. Suckley, however, speaks of the 

 Log-Cock as abundant in the vicinity of Fort Steilacoom, Washington Terri- 

 tory, during summer, and Dr. Cooper also mentions it as an abundant and 

 constant resident in the forests of the Territory. I have occasionally met 

 with it in the wilder portions of New Hampshire and Maine, but have no- 

 where been so fortunate as to observe its nest or its breeding-habits. It has 

 always seemed a very shy bird, difficult of approach, always keeping at a 

 safe distance, and ever greeting your attempts for a nearer view with a loud, 

 cackling cry, not unlike a derisive laugh. 



According to the observations of Wilson, their eggs are deposited in the 

 hole of a tree dug out by themselves, no other materials being used but the 

 soft chips of rotten wood. The female lays six eggs, of a snowy whiteness, 

 and they are said to raise two broods in a season. 



Mr. Audubon states that it almost always breeds in the interior of the 

 forest, and frequently on trees placed in deep swamps over the water, ap- 

 pearing to give a preference to the southern side of the tree, on which side 

 the hole is usually found to which they retreat in the winter and during 

 stormy weather. The hole is sometimes bored perpendicularly, but occasion- 

 ally in the form of that of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker. The usual depth 

 is from twelve to eighteen inches, the breadth from two and a half to tliree, 

 and at the bottom five or six. He believed they raise but a single brood 

 in a season. The young follow their parents a long while, sometimes until 

 the return of spring. 



Eev. Dr. Bachman gives an interesting account of a pair of Pileated 

 Woodpeckers building a nest in an old elm-tree in a swamp, and occupying 

 it the first year. Early the next spring two Bluebirds took possession of 



