292 BULLETIN 15 5, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



loud, rollicking, rolling calls, often interspersed with tree-toad-like 

 gutturals, in its changing tones brings to mind continental flickers, 

 ant-eating, and red-headed woodpeckers. The birds fly from tree 

 to tree with rapidly bounding flight, and alight indifferently on 

 trunk or branches, to hitch about, bracing with the strong, stiff tail, 

 clinging to the bark with the strong feet and sharp claws. Occa- 

 sionally one may fly to the outer branches of a tree and seizing a 

 small twig in its feet swing back downward in search for food. The 

 nest is placed in a hole drilled by the bird itself in a tree trunk. 

 Often one tree may have several holes in it, and on one occasion 

 Wetmore observed a palm with a dozen cavities cut by this wood- 

 pecker. In the lowlands the royal palm is the favorite nesting tree, 

 and there is little doubt that subsequent rotting induced by the col- 

 lection of water in these artificial cavities affects the tree and may 

 eventually extend until the trunk breaks in the wind. Whether this 

 damage is serious is questionable and one that should be examined 

 with an open mind to all the factors concerned, including the abun- 

 dance of palms, the extent to which they are utilized by man, and 

 the rapidity of growth which would normally replace those de- 

 stroyed. At the present time it appears that damage is negligible as 

 royal palms abound as do the woodpecker. It is Wetmore's opinion 

 from present observations that damage that has been claimed is 

 more imaginary than real, being based on isolated cases where the 

 shooting of one or two birds would correct the difficulty. At Poste 

 Charbert Wetmore was told that the woodpeckers drilled holes in 

 the water tank that supplied the house, a matter of some importance, 

 corrected however by casual shooting. Near Constanza the wood- 

 pecker was reported to damage maize, an allegation made in other 

 localities also. It would appear that the bird should be given care- 

 ful study by some one competent to determine its exact status. It is 

 the opinion of Wetmore from present information that as a species 

 it is useful through destruction of injurious forest insects, and that 

 only those individuals that develop injurious habits should be killed. 

 There should be no general war on it without careful investigation. 

 That the woodpecker has been common throughout the historic 

 period is shown by frequent reference to it in early works of travel. 

 Oviedo describes the nesting cavity dug in the trunk of a palm. The 

 species is mentioned by Charlevoix in 1733, and by Oexmelin in 1775, 

 the latter like Oviedo noting the nesting holes drilled in the hard 

 wood of palm trunks. Brisson in 1760 described minutely the male 

 and female from specimens sent by Chervain to de Reaumur, con- 

 sidering them distinct species. Vieillot (writing in 1807) says that 

 he found them nesting in May, and that they laid from four to five 

 eggs. 



