SPRING ARRIVAL OF THE BIRDS. 29 



body are white and pale yellow, with black, heart- 

 shaped spots. A broad collar of jet black separates the 

 throat and breast, while a crimson crescent ornaments 

 the back of the head, and reaches to the eye. The 

 under sides of the wings and tail and also all the quill 

 shafts are a bright golden yellow. 



For nesting places they generally select a dry stub or 

 the decayed top of a live tree, chisel out a circular hole 

 a few inches horizontally, and then work downward a 

 foot or more, excavating a cavity large enough at the 

 bottom to contain the brood of ii\e or six young birds ; 

 six is the usual number. The nest is placed from five 

 to fifty feet from the ground, according to convenience. 

 I have seen them in stumps and also in the boles of 

 a2:>ple trees within reach of the hand. I remember a 

 large beech that stood just on the edge of my father's 

 woods. The tree had hmbs nearly all the way up its 

 trunk. A few feet from the top was dead, and in this 

 decayed part, just under the node of a broken limb, 

 and at least fifty feet from the ground, a pair of high- 

 holes excavated a nest which they used for four consec- 

 utive years. I say the same pair, for I easily recognized 

 both of the birds, and used to watch with much interest 

 for their annual return. Probably every day during 

 the four years from the time the first egg was deposited 

 till the young birds flew away, I climbed to the 

 nest to examine the state of affairs and see how the 

 family was getting along. The old birds, shy at first, 

 became accustomed to my daily visits, and soon showed 

 very little concern about my presence, and both would 



