THE YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSCTCKER. 87 



Wliile ill the woods one inoniing, seated against the trunk' of a maple, 

 observing the nio\enients of a Winter Wren and lier lirooil, a male Yellow- 

 bellied Sapsncker suddeid^' flew down from a neighl)oring tree and alighted 

 on the side of the one on which 1 was leaning, within a foot of my head. He 

 startled me not a little, and no doubt he was equally astonished, as he remained 

 only about a minute, and, littering a sharp note, like "huwy," beat a hasty 

 retreat. Its favorite resorts during the breeding season are deciduous and 

 mixed woods, generally close to water, in river bottoms, along the shoi'es of 

 the numerous lakes and the borders of swamps, while it is much less frequently 

 seen at this season of the year in extensive coniferous forests. 



In the more soutlicrn portions of its l)reeding range nidificatiou usually 

 commences about tlie beginning of May, and somewhat later farther nortli. It 

 takes about a week or ten days to complete the excavation for a nesting site, 

 which is usually gourd-sha])ed, varying from 6 to IS inches in depth. The 

 entrance hole is perfectly circular, about 14 inches in diameter, and just large 

 enouffh to admit the l)ird; the sides of the excavation are smooth, and a laver 

 of fine chips is left in the bottom of the hole, on which the eggs are deposited. 

 The sexes relieve each other in this work, and also share tlie duties of incuba- 

 tion. Several other fresh holes are usually excavated in the same tree, pre- 

 sumably by the male, to which he probably retires to rest during the night, and 

 to guard his mate from possible danger. 



Fresh eggs may be looked for during the latter half of May and the first 

 week in June, and from five to seven are laid to a set, those containing five or 

 six eggs being most common. An egg is deposited daily, and should tlie first 

 clutch be taken, a second, usuallv containing four eggs, is laid about two w^eeks 

 later, frequently in an excavation in the same tree. They are devoted parents 

 and when inculiation is somewhat advanced, or the young have been recently 

 hatched, the bird on the nest is loath to leave it, and will sometimes allow itself 

 to be captured rather than to desert its treasures. The one off duty maA^ also 

 frequently be seen clinging just below tlie hole, anil remaining in this position 

 perfectly motionless for several minutes at a time, as if in a deep study. The 

 eggs, like those of all Woodpeckers, are pure white in color, the shell is close- 

 grained and only moderately glossy; in shape the}' vary from ovate to elliptical 

 ovate, and occasionally to an elliptical oval. 



The average measurement of seventeen eggs in the United States National 

 Museum collection is 22.23 by 17.0G millimefres, or about 0.8<S by 0.G7 inch. 

 The largest egg measures 23.37 liy 17.53 millimetres, or ().i)2 bv 0.6!) inch; the 

 smallest, 20.57 by 1G.26 millimetres, or 0.81 by 0.G4 inch. 



The type specimen. No. 24726 (not figured), fnmi a set of six eggs, was 

 taken b^' Dr. William L. Ralph, near Trenton Falls, Herkimer CountA', New 

 York, on Mav 28, 1886, from a cavity in a rotten liml) of an elm tree standing 

 in an open field.' 



' For further iuformation on this species, I refer the reader to Mr. William Brewster's interesting article 

 in the Biillotin of the Nnttall Ornitliologioiil Clnl>, Vol. I, 187G, pp. G3-70; also, to one hy Dr. C. Hart Mer- 

 riam, puhlisheil in the aaiiie Hiillotin, Vol. IV, 187!1, jip. 1-6; and to the carefnl ohsorvatious made hy the 

 late Mr. Frank Bollrs, pnhlisheil m tlio Auk, \iil. \III, 18ttl, pp. 256-70, and Vol. IX, 189L', pp. 109-119. 



