1890.] Mortimer on Habi/s of Florida Birds. 339 



Buteo lineatus alleni. Florida Red-shouldered Hawk. 



This is the most troublesome of the Hawks among young- 

 chickens in Orange County. The numerous bay tree swamps 

 are its favorite residence, as they serve as a safe stronghold, and 

 also harbor myriads of cotton rats which are a favorite prey with 

 it. It would appear that this Hawk is not in the habit of 

 molesting the common small birds, as I have observed numbers 

 of Blackbirds fly into the same tree with one, neither party pay- 

 ing any attention to the other. The bold little Sparrow Hawk 

 has no difficulty in driving this larger species, and I have seen a 

 pair of Quail rout a Red-shoulder that had made a sally upon 

 their brood. 



Ceophlceus pileatus. Pileated Woodpecker. 



The Pileated Woodpecker is among the birds most limited in 

 the variety of their notes, and indeed its only cry seems to be the 

 wild clatter that has been so often described. On one occasion I 

 discovered a pair of birds of this species apparently at play 

 amongst the trees of a dense hummock. Wishing to secure 

 them, I shot the female as she clung to a broken limb on a large 

 oak. The male, who had been making a great noise, was silent 

 a minute upon the report of the gun, but directly began again, 

 and at the same time flew about rapidly as if trying to discover 

 his mate. Presentlv he alighted on the very limb from which 

 the other had fallen, and then I fired at him in the midst of one 

 of his outbursts. Although he fell, he did not pause in his clat- 

 ter for an instant, but came tumbling down until he caught in 

 some moss at a distance from the ground, where he continued to 

 vociferate without apparently allowing himself to draw a breath. 

 Very soon he fell to the earth, but became quiet only when 1 

 pressed my hand upon his lungs. It would seem that this bird 

 must have felt pleasure, fear, and pain during the time I observed 

 him, all of which he expressed by the same sounds. 



_Melanerpes carolinus. Red-bellied Woodpecker. 



Possessing very full testimony regarding this bird's habit of 

 eating oranges, as noticed with interest by Dr. Warren and Mr. 

 Brewster, I offer my observations made near Sanford. During 



