430 THE NORTHWEST SAPSUCKER. 
defeat at the end of it; but, of course, if one wanted eggs, one had to go after 
them. First, we laid out a liberal supply of stout two-foot fir cleats, and a 
couple of pounds of small spikes. A ladder gave us a twenty-foot start, after 
which I nailed up the cleats with the aid of a three-quarter-inch rope passed 
round the tree and my body My com- 
panion at the bottom of the tree supplied 
building materials which I hoisted from 
time to time by means of another rope. 
In this laborious fashion the nest was 
reached. The birds, meanwhile, having be- 
dee! come increasingly anxious, made frequent 
pee approaches from a neighboring tree, crying, 
kee-a, kee-aa, in helpless bewilderment. 
Several times they 
lighted near the scene 
of operations, but were 
frightened off by the 
resounding blows of 
the hand-axe. When 
all was over, they 
raised a high, strong 
qué-00, — qué-o0, never 
before heard, and _ re- 
minding one  generic- 
ally of the Red-headed 
Woodpecker of boyhood 
days. 
By the time I had a 
hole large enough to 
thrust in the hand, the 
eges were quite buried 
in chips and _ rotten 
wood. But when they 
Se ROS ee a aia cies were uncovered, they 
some were seen to lie, seven 
of them, in two reg- 
Taken near Blaine. Photo by Victor Savings. 
NESTING SITE OF THE NORTHWEST SAPSUCKER. ular lines, four in 
the front rank with 
sides touching evenly, and three in the rear with points dove-tailed between. 
There was, of course, no lining for the nest, save the rotten wood itself. The 
eggs were perfectly fresh and had a warm pink tint before the contents were 
