THE KED-BREASTED SAPSUCKER. 95 



groves of various extent, their silvery trunks and light-green foliage blending 

 artistically with the somber green of the pines. These aspen groves are the 

 summer home of the Ked-breasted Sapsucker. 



As far as my own observations go, healthy, smooth-barked aspens are 

 always selected as suitable nesting sites by these birds. The trees used vary 

 from 12 to IS inches in diameter near the ground, and taper very gradually. 

 The cavity is usually excavated below the tirst liml> of the tree, say from 15 to 

 25 feet from the ground. The entrance hole seems to be ridiculously small for 

 the size of tlie l)ird — perfectly circular, from 1^ to 1^ inches in diameter only — 

 so small, indeed, that it seems as if it took considerable effort for the bird to 

 squeeze himself in and wriggle out of the hole. 



The gourd-shaped excavation varies in depth from 6 to 10 inches, and it 

 is from 3 inches near the top to 4 or 5 inches wide at the bottom. The finer 

 chips are allowed to remain in the bottom, forming the nest proper, on whicli 

 the eggs are deposited. Frequently they are more than half covered Ijy these 

 chips. The interior of the entire excavation is most carefully smoothed off, 

 A\liich nmst consume considerable time, considering the tough, stringy, and 

 elastic nature of the wood when filled wdth sap, making it even more difficult to 

 work when partly decayed, wdiich seems to l)e the case with nearly all aspens 

 of any size. Probably eight or ten days are consumed in excavating a satis- 

 factory nesting site. All the larger and coarser chips are dropjjed out of the 

 hole and scattered about the base of the tree. From the quantity of these 

 found under every tree occupied by these birds during the nesting season of 

 1883, I am- inclined to believe that they are only satisfied with an entirely 

 new^ nesting site every year, and not simply with an old one repaired to answer 

 the purpose. These same chips are an extremely simple and sure guide to their 



nest. 



In hunting for them I looked for the chips on the groimd first, and ;ifter 

 finding these it did not take long to find the hole from which they came. In 

 this manner it was an easy matter to find their nest, and I took no less than 

 fifteen sets of their eggs in a single season, and might have taken more had 1 

 been so inclined, especially by following up the birds for their second set, where 

 they had been robbed i)reviously. Ordinarily but one brood is raised in a 

 season. 



The number of eggs varies from five to six to a set. Full sets of fresh 

 eggs may be looked for in that locality froni May 20 to June 5, and I have 

 taken nearly fresh eggs as late as June 13. I took my first set on May 23, 1883. 

 It contained six fresh eggs, and the cavity was about 7 inches deep, the entrance 

 al)out 8 inches below ;uul directl)' under the first limb of the tree, as usual a 

 live aspen, about 18 feet from the ground. While the nest was being rifled of 

 its contents both parents flew about the upper limbs of the tree, uttering a 

 number of different sounding, plaintive cries, like 'peeye,' 'i)inck,' and 'peurr,' 

 some of these resembling somewhat the i)urring of a cat when pleased and 

 rubbino- ao-ainst vour leff. I used to note the difterent sounds in a small note- 



