ANDERSON — THE BIRDS OF IOWA. 273 



8, 1897, t>y Mr. Hall Thomas. The nest is placed in a burrow dug 

 in the perpendicular face of a cut bank, usually along a stream, 

 but I have found them in railroad cuts and sandpits. The hole 

 is generally six to eight feet in length and enlarged at the further 

 extremit}^ where the five to eight pure white eggs are deposited 

 upon a pile of fish bones and scales and crawfish shells. Mr. W. 

 F. Loucks states: "Along the Cedar River, in Iowa, I found these 

 birds in great numbers. A large clay bank along the river resem- 

 bled a honeycomb, so numerous were the holes made by this bird. 

 This is the only case that I know of where Kingfishers have been 

 found breeding in close proximity" (Bendire, Life Histories of N. 

 A. Birds, ii, p. 25). The eggs are deposited from the middle to 

 the latter part of May. Both the male and female birds incu- 

 bate, and the bird will frequently remain on the nest until re- 

 moved with the hands. 



Order PICI. Woodpeckers, Wrynecks, etc. 

 Family PICID.^. Woodpeckers. 



The Woodpeckers are particularly adapted for climbing or 

 creeping upon the bark of trees. The stout bill is used to chip 

 away wood and bark and expose the hiding place of grubs and 

 other larvae, which are impaled upon the long, distensible, sharp- 

 tipped tongue. The}' thus destroy large quantities of injurious 

 insects which could be reached in no other way. All the Wood- 

 peckers are thus distinctly beneficial. The eggs are uniformly 

 white and are placed in a hole in a tree, generally in a dead limb 

 hollowed out by the bird. 



Genus DRYOBATES Boie. 



176- (393)- Dryobates vi/losus (Linn.). Hairy Woodpeckers. 



The Hairy Woodpecker is a common resident in all parts of the 

 state, but is most frequently ob.served in winter, when it often 

 appears in towns. Speaking of the rolling tattoo of some Wood- 

 peckers, Mr. Brewster says: '' P. pubescens has a long, unbroken 

 roll, P. villosus, a shorter and louder one with a greater interval 

 between each stroke, while .S". varius, commencing with a short 

 roll, ends very emphatically with five or six distinct disconnected 

 taps" (Ann. Lye. Nat. His., xi, 1875, p. 144). Keyes and Will- 

 iams state that the eggs are laid about the last of April. 



