CONSPICUOUSLY BLACK AND WHITE 3873 
Nest : Hole excavated in the trunk of a large dead tree, from 20 to 75 
feet from the ground. 
Eggs: 3to5; white. Size 1.40 X 0.99. 
THrouGHovT the northern part of .California in the 
forests of the Sierra Nevada, the handsome Pileated 
Woodpecker may be frequently heard, occasionally seen, 
but never watched unless you are going to live in his 
haunts months at a time for the especial purpose of mak- 
ing friends with him. But in the Yosemite Valley he is 
the most conspicuous of all the birds, as well as one of 
the least shy. With slight trouble you may find the 
location of his nest in a tall live cedar fifty feet from the 
- ground, and watch the pair as they care for their young. 
Here the mating season commences about the first of 
May, incubation lasts eighteen days, and the young re- 
main in the nest nearly six weeks. It is not uncommon 
to find these nestlings still in the nursery the first week 
in July in the Yosemite forests. The parents are very 
devoted to their treasures whether they be eggs or in- 
fant Woodpeckers, and the male rarely fails to stand on 
guard on a high perch ready to warn and defend should 
possible danger threaten. The method of feeding is like 
that of the flickers, by regurgitation for the first two 
weeks or longer. The adult comes with gular pouch 
full of food and alights at one side of the nest hole to 
rest a moment. ‘Though he may have come noiselessly 
and from the other side of the tree, yet his approach is 
always heralded by a mowing-machine chorus from the 
young, plainly heard some yards away. If old enough, 
the queer-looking little heads are thrust out of the door- 
