64 Wayne, South Carolina Birds. [jan. 



when three eggs were found. Upon investigating the cavity on 

 April 28, and finding but three eggs, I concluded that the set was 

 complete and abstracted it. The excavation was made under 

 a dead limb, and was about 18 inches deep, being hollowed out 

 more on one side than on the other. This woodpecker is so 

 attached to the tree in which it has first made its nest that it will 

 continue to cling to it as long as it can. find a suitable spot to ex- 

 cavate a new hole. It never uses the same hole after it has been 

 once occupied. I know of a pair of these birds which resorted 

 to the same tree for four consecutive years, and each year they 

 excavated a new hole. 



Another pair of these woodpeckers bred in a gigantic dead 

 pine for three years, and as an illustration that these large holes 

 are in great demand by other birds, and also mammals, for breed- 

 ing purposes, I will state that on April 16, 1903, there were three 

 species breeding in the same tree, namely — Ceophlceus pileatus, 

 four eggs, 54 feet from ground; Sciurus niger, 70 feet from ground; 

 and Falco sparverius, — approximately 90 feet from ground — 

 all living together in perfect harmony! If this bird is deprived 

 of its first set of eggs, it at once excavates a new hole, and the 

 length of time consumed in its construction is about twenty-five 

 days. A curious habit of this bird is that it frequently taps in 

 its hole (as if excavating) even when it is incubating or brooding 

 its young. 



Chordeiles virginianus. Nighthawk. — The greatest migra- 

 tion that I ever witnessed was of this species. On September 6, 

 1905, between 5.30 p. M. and sunset, these birds were migrating 

 in dense flocks, which, at times, obscured the sky. As far as I 

 have been able to ascertain these flocks extended over an area 

 of more than fifteen miles from east to west. The number of 

 birds seen must have represented millions. Mr. Ferdinand 

 Gregorie, who plants on Daniel's Island, tells me that in every 

 direction the air was filled with these valuable insectivorus birds. 



The migration of Fox Sparrows (Passerella iliaca), that I wit- 

 nessed on the morning of February 13, 1899, is insignificant in 

 comparison to the above. (See 'The Auk,' April, 1899, p. 197.) 



Spinus pinus. Pine Siskin. — The winter of 1896 and 1897 

 will long be remembered on account of the great abundance of 



