106 LIFE HISTOEIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



feet from the ground, and it takes from seven to twelve days to complete it. 

 The entrance measures from 3 to 3^ inches in diameter, and it often goes 5 

 inches straight into the trunk before it is worked doAvnward. The cavity varies 

 from 7 to 30 inches in depth, and is gradually enlarged tow^-d the bottom, 

 where it is al)out>6 inches wide. A layer of chips is left at the bottom, on which 

 the eggs are deposited. Occasionally the entrance hole, instead of being- circu- 

 lar, is oval in shape, like that of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker. The inside of 

 the cavity is quite smooth, the edges of the entrance are nicely beveled, and, 

 taken as a whole, it is quite an artistic piece of work. Some of the birds, 

 presumably such as have been molested previously, are quite shy and artful, 

 removing every trace of chips as soon as loosened and dropping them in dif- 

 ferent places, at some distance from the nesting site, so as not to betray its location 

 bv the accunudation of chips at the base of the tree, and occasionally they show, 

 if possible, still more intelligence. Dr. William L. Ralph tells me that in the 

 sjiring of 1892 he found a nest of this species in Putnam County, Florida, 

 where the bird is quite common, excavated in a dead cypress in swampj^ woods, 

 which was .comparatively easy to get at. He found this in the second week in 

 April, about the time nidification is at its height there. On rapping on the 

 trunk of the tree the bird, which Avas at home, stuck his head out of the hole 

 and dropped some chips, naturally causing the Doctor to believe that the nest- 

 ing' site was still unfinished. The same performance was repeated on several 

 subsequent visits, and finally he concluded to examine the nest anyhow, when 

 he found nearly full-grown young. This pair of birds must have had eggs 

 at the time he first discovered the nest, and the chijjs were simply thrown out 

 as a ruse to deceive him. 



The trees ir.ost often used for nesting sites are cypress, gum, pine, fir, 

 tamarack, oak, sycamore, elm, birch, and cottonwood, and in southern I'lorida 

 the trunk of the cabbage j)almetto also furnishes suitable nesting sites. Besides 

 the customary layer of chips found in the liottom of the hole, one of the 

 nesting sites examined by Dr. Ralph contained fully a pint of clean sand. A 

 fresh cavity is generally made each season, and this species also excavates 

 others in the fall of the year to retire to during inclement and stormy weather 

 in winter. On the data blank furnished by Dr. Ralidi, for a set of three eggs 

 taken by him in Putnam County, Florida, on April 20, 1892, from a hole in the 

 side of a rotten pine stump, 27 feet above the ground, in low, flat pine woods, 

 near a small swamp, I find the following entry: "This nest was examined 

 April 13, but contained no eggs. At that time the cavity was opened by 

 tearing out a piece about 3 inches wide from the aperture nearly to the bottom. 

 The damaged place was repaired by nailing over it a piece of bark from the 

 stump, with a small hollow in the top, to restore the opening to its proper sliape." 

 The cavity was about 18 inches deep. In northern Florida full sets of eggs 

 may be looked for about April 16. Three eggs to a set seems to be the usual 

 number found here, and most of the eggs in the United States National Museum 

 collection came from this State. Dr. A. K. Fislier took a set of four at Lake 

 George, Wan-en County, New York, on May 15, 1878; and Mr. J. Harris Reed, 



