62 LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



extent on them, the 2:)arent taking the stem of a fig in its beak and caiTying it 

 entire to the nest. Audnbon mentions poke and smilax berries, grapes, and 

 pine flowers as being eaten by them. 



In Florida, South Carolina, and Louisiana nidification commences rather 

 early, sometimes in February; but full sets of eggs are rarely found before 

 the last week in April, and the majority of these birds commence laying about 

 May 1. Mr. Arthur T. Wayne writes me from Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, 

 on this subject as follows: "The Red-cockacted Woodpecker prefers the long- 

 leaf pine to breed in, but I have also found the nest in the short-leaf species. 

 In this vicinity the hole is invariable excavated in a live pine, and sometimes as 

 many as six holes are found in a single tree. It never lays until the gum pours 

 freely from the ti'ee it nests in, and to hasten its flow the birds dig into the tree 

 on all sides, above and below the hole. The height of its nesting site varies 

 from 20 to 70 feet." 



Trees in which the heart is diseased are usually selected for such a purpose, 

 and the cavity is excavated in the main trunk of the tree, ordinarily from 

 25 to 35 feet from the ground. The entrance, hole, which is about 2 inches in 

 diameter, frequently passes through 6 inches of solid wood before it reaches 

 the somewhat softer decayed inner parts of the tree, and the nesting cavity-, 

 which is gradually enlai-ged toward the bottom, varies from 6 to 10 inches in 

 depth by about 3i inches in diameter. Both sexes assist in this labor, as well 

 as in incubation, which lasts about fourteen days. Ordinarily only'one brood is 

 raised in a season, but from the fact that Mr. Hemy Nehrling found young in 

 July which had only recently left the nest, it is possible that a second brood 

 is occasionally reared. Dr. William L. Ralph tells me that this species is quite 

 conxinon in the low, flat pine woods in Putnum County, Florida, where he has 

 found several of its nests. All of these were excavated in the trunks of live 

 pine trees, and it took considerable labor to get at the eggs ; these are tlii-ee or 

 four in number, rarely more. The eggs of this Woodpecker are pure glossy 

 white, and mostly elliptical ovate in shape. The shell is moderately strong, 

 close grained, and semitransluceut when fresh. 



The average measurement of twenty-three specimens in the United States 

 National Museum collection is 24.07 by 17.46 millimetres, or about 0.95 by 0.69 

 inch. The largest egg measures 26.42 by 18.54 millimetres, or 1.04 by '0.73 

 inches; the smallest, 22.10 by 17.27 millimetres, or 0.87 by 0.68 inch. 



The type specimen. No. 24724 (not figured), from a set of four eggs, was 

 taken by Dr. WiUiam L. Ralph on May 9, 1891, near San Mateo, Putnam 

 County, Florida. 



