THE KED HEADED V\ OODPECKEK. 109 



iilready been thrown out, and 1 caught the Red-head in the act, coming- out 

 of the hole with his bill stuck through the third. At that time I simply 

 considered this act on its part as a forcible appropriation of a coveted nesting- 

 site, as suitable trees were scarce in this vicinit}-, and thought no more about 

 the matter. The next year I saw the following article in the "Oologist" (Vol. 

 3, April, l.SS(J, p. 21)), which I was rather reluctant to believe at first, written 

 by a gentleman signing himself L. 13. F., Augusta, Ga.: 



'■^ CannibaHsm of the Red-headed Woodpeeker. — I noticed two interestino- inci- 

 dents last spring connected with a Red-headed Woodpecker, wliicli may interest 

 the readers of the 'Oologist.' Early in May I found a nest of this bird contain- 

 ing six eggs, situated in the dead branches of an oak, 30 feet high. Near by a 

 Crested Titmouse had industriously carved out his little home, in which he was 

 feeding a nest full of young. A few days after, having taken tlie Woodpecker's 

 eggs (I needed them for my collection), I was watchhig tlie Titmouse's nest to 

 see him feed his little ones, when suddenly the owner of the robbed nest flew 

 down and lit near the entrance to the nest of its nein-hbor, and thrustin<>- his 

 head inside, he deliberately drew out a young bird, carried it to a branch near 

 by, and ate it. He and his mate repeated the same action until they had killed 

 the whole brood; after which, having pulled out the lining of the nest, they flew 

 away. This was very surprising to me, as I have never heard of Woodpeckers 

 indulging- in cannibalism before. But I had not yet done with the actions of 

 the Woodpeckers. A week or so after having broken up the Crested Titmouse 

 nest, I noticed the Red-heads re})eatedly visiting the site of their old nest. This 

 aroused my curiosity, and supposing they had decided to lay a new clutch, 1 

 visited the cavity to see whether my supposition was true. What was my sur- 

 prise to And that the hollow contained not eggs, but the decaying body of a 

 Great Crested Flycatcher. How it came there I know not; but I am fully 

 convinced that the Red-heads visited the spot for the jjurposc of devouring the 

 vermin which infested the decaying flesh." 



A similar incident is recorded in the same periodical (Vol. 5, June, 188M, 

 p. 1 13), where one of these birds was seen, near Hyde Park, Ontario, July, 1S86, 

 carrying away a freshly killed young robin. Mr. W. G. Smith, formerly of 

 Loveland, Colorado, well known as a perfectly reliable and careful obser\er, 

 writes me: "The Red-headed Woodpecker is a common suimner resident in 

 the lower foothills along the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains in this 

 State, and I consider it a veritable butcher yimong our Nuthatches and Chick- 

 adees, driving every one away from its nesting sites, antl woe to the l)inl that 

 this villnin can reach. It destroys both eggs and young, dragging the latter 

 out of theii- nests and frequently leaving them dead at tlie entrance of their 

 holes." 



Mr. Howard Jones, Circle ville, Ohio, I believe was tlie first naturalist to 

 record the fact that tliis species robbed the nests of otlii'r })irds of tlieir e"-ffs, 

 and states how a colony of Cliff" Swallows which had established themselves 

 under the eaves of a large barn, near ]\Iount Sterling, Ohio, Avas nearlv exter- 



