62 Wayne, Smith Carolina Birds. [j^ 



used in the years 1903 and 1904, and I engaged a man who as- 

 cended the tree and lowered the single egg which it contained. 

 This nest was 135 feet from the ground, and the egg contained 

 a large embryo. The eggs are dull bluish-white, generally nest- 

 stained, and measure 1.60 x 1.31 in. In the region about Yemassee, 

 this kite certainly lays from two to three eggs. Mr. Chapman, 

 in his 'Birds of Eastern North America,' states that this kite "is 

 not common east of Louisiana." While I was on the Suwannee 

 River, Florida, in 1892, I saw daily, between the river and a large 

 plantation, from May 12 until May 28, hundreds of these birds, 

 as well as hundreds of Elanoides jorficatus. These kites arrived 

 daily, and with the greatest regularity at 11.50 A. m., and departed 

 at 2.08 P. M. This field was alive with grasshoppers, upon which 

 the kites were feeding, and it was a sight that will never be for- 

 gotten. 



Aquila chrysaetos. Golden Eagle. — There are two mounted 

 specimens of this eagle in the Museum of the College of Charles- 

 ton. One was taken by Thomas Porcher Ravenel, Esq. (a 

 brother of Henry W. Ravenel, the botanist), at or near Pinop- 

 olis, South Carolina, and the other specimen was taken by 

 Mr. S. J. L. Matthews, in St. Andrew's Parish, which is just 

 across the Ashley River, and near the city of Charleston. Both 

 birds were taken in the winter. The bird, which was shot by 

 Mr. Matthews, had killed a Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo), 

 and it was shot while eating the Turkey. Mr. Matthews's bird 

 is mounted in a group to illustrate how it was secured. 



Dryobates borealis. Red-cockaded Woodpecker. — Numer- 

 ous authors, including Audubon, have stated that this species 

 breeds in dead pine trees. The latter, in his ' Birds of Amer- 

 ica,' Vol. IV, p. 255, says that the 'nest is not unfrequently 

 bored in a decayed stump about thirty feet high." I have seen 

 perhaps a thousand holes in which this woodpecker had bred or 

 was breeding, and every one was excavated in a living pine tree, 

 ranging from eighteen to one hundred feet above the ground. 

 This bird never lays its eggs until the pine gum pours freely from 

 beneath and around the hole, and in order to accelerate the flow 

 the birds puncture the bark to the 'skin' of the tree thereby causing 

 the gum to exude freely. This species, unlike the Pileated Wood- 



