THE PILEATED WOODPECKER. 105 



head downwiinl, and, stretching' his neck io one sid(% nianaged to reach the 

 berries. Not unfreijuentl)' they search for food on the ground, usually aliiihting 

 low down on a trunk and dropping backward, a few inches at a time, till they 

 reach the base, where tliev search among the chips, etc., but constantly looking 

 up with tlie most knowing glances, as if to say that they were not to be sur- 

 prised in siu'li a ]>roceeding. I have never seen this species east of the Rocky 

 Mountains in j\Iontana." 



I have seen this species in Ijut few localities in the West, and with but 

 one exception I always found the Pileated Woodpecker extremely shy and 

 difficult to approach. In the latter part of June, 1882, I found a nest containing 

 four young about one-half mile southeast from Fort Klamath, Oregon, and I 

 noticed this family on several occasions afterwards in the heavy pine timljer in 

 the vicinity of the Post. These birds were not shy, and I could readily have 

 shot them all, but refrained, hoping they would nest in the neighborhood again 

 next season, wliich they, however, failed to do. The ordinary call note is a loud 

 "cack-ciick-ciick," several times repeateil; another reseml)les the "chuck-up" of 

 the Red-shafted Flicker, only somewhat slower, louder, and clearer; others 

 again remind me of the cackling of a domestic hen. One of its love notes, 

 according to Mr. A. Nehrling, sounds like "a-wuck, a-wuck," and one of alarm, 

 or anger, like "ha-hi, ha-hi." It is very noisy during the mating season and 

 indulges in a good di'al of drunnning at this time of year. I believe they 

 remain mated through life, and pairs are more fretj^uently seen than single birds. 



Its food consists of the diflterent species of" boring beetles and their larvie 

 infesting timl)cred tracts, and of ants, many of which it captures on the ground; 

 it also feeds on wild grapes, the berries of the black gum, dogwood, pokeweed, 

 service berries, acorns, l)eechnuts, and chestnuts. Considered from an economic 

 p(_)int of view, it does far more good than harm, and oidy attacks decaying and 

 fallen tindjer. In the mountains of Oregon, and presumably in other localities, 

 the Pileated Woodpecker is most frequently met Avith in the extensive liurnt 

 tracts, the so-called "deadenings," Avhere forest tires have swept through miles 

 of fine timber and killed everything in its path. Such localities atford this 

 species an abundant food supply in the slowly decaying trees, and are sure to 

 attract them. I have seen the sun obscured for weeks at Fort Klamath by 

 the dense smoke caused by such a tire, wliich raged in the Cascade Mountains, 

 near Diamond Park, some F)0 miles north of the Po.st, in August, 1883. The 

 bright scarlet crests of these birds were in fotmer years highly prized l))^ many 

 of the Indian trilies in our Northwestern States, being used as ornaments on 

 their war bonnets, and these birds were eagerly«hunted for this purpose. Its 

 flight is both strong and swift at times, l)ut, as a rule, when at ease it is slow and 

 crow-like, rather more direct and not sw vxndulating as that of most of our 

 Woodpeckers, and is often ])rotracted for long distances. 



In southern Florida the mating season commences early in March, and 

 farther north. correspondingly later. A suitable tree having been selected, gen- 

 erally a dead one in large and extensive woods, both birds work alternately 

 on the nesting site. This is usually excavated in the main trunk, from 12 to 75 



