496 Wright and Harper, The Birds of Okefinokee Swamp. [bet" 



26. Coccyzus americanus americanus. Yellow-billed Cuckoo; 

 ' Rain Crow.' — Common. These birds were observed or heard usually on 

 the borders of the prairies, in the depths of the cypress bays, or on the river 

 bottoms of the Suwannee, but were also found occasionally in the high pines 

 on the islands. A pair was seen copulating on June 7 on Billy's Island, and 

 the male was collected. Its stomach contained a larval giant silkworm. In 

 a tupelo tree at the margin of the Suwannee, on June 17, we found a nest con- 

 taining two eggs. It was placed in a cluster of mistletoe on a horizontal 

 branch four feet above the water, and consisted of sticks interwoven with 

 Spanish 'moss' (Tillandsia usneoides). It was the best example of a 

 Cuckoo's nest we have ever seen. 



27. Coccyzus erythrophthalmus. Black-billed Cuckoo; 'Rain 

 Crow.' — A single bird, doubtless a migrant, was observed on May 8. 



28. Dryobates villosus auduboni. Southern Hairy Wood- 

 pecker. — Not common in the swamp itself; more numerous along the 

 Suwannee and in the pine lands on the outskirts of the swamp. 



29. Dryobates pubescens pubescens. Southern Downy Wood- 

 pecker. — Rather uncommon. They were seldom seen on the islands them- 

 selves, but usually in their cypress edges. Our records were made in the 

 swampy woods along Minne Lake Narrows, Log River Narrows, and 

 especially the Suwannee River. 



30. Dryobates borealis. Red-cockaded Woodpecker; ' Sap- 

 sucker.' — Rather common in open pineries, both on the islands and out- 

 side of the swamp. On May 19 a bird was seen at its nest about thirty 

 feet up in a pine on Billy's Island. On May 28, near Mixon's Ferry, we 

 noticed another occupied nest some fifty feet from the ground. 



31. Phloeotomuspileatuspileatus. Pileated Woodpecker; 'Kate'; 

 ' Wood Kate ' ; ' Woodcock ' ; ' Good-God Woodpecker ' ; ' Lord-God 

 Woodpecker.' — With the exception of the Red-bellied Woodpecker, this 

 is the most abundant member of its family in the Okefinokee. In fact, we 

 saw as many as four Pileated Woodpeckers in a single tree. In every part 

 of the swamp — especially the cypress bays, but also the hammocks and 

 the piny woods on the islands, and even the ' heads ' on the prairies — 

 these magnificent birds are at home. They are rather shy. On Billy's 

 Island they usually left the open pine woods and sought refuge within the 

 bordering cypresses, long ere we came within gun range. We frequently 

 heard them giving their great and deliberate rolls in the thick bay surround- 

 ing Billy's Lake. Occasionally they flew across the lake from tree top to 

 tree top, or disappeared at the other end of a ' bonnet ' lagoon just as we 

 rounded the corner. They were very common along the Suwannee, where 

 we several times endeavored to surprise them at work, but the slightest 

 noise caused them to slip away farther into the depths of the forest. An 

 unsuspecting pair of ' Kates ' in a swampy thicket is a glorious spectacle; 

 with their scarlet crests erect, the}- are the very embodiment of all that 

 is wild. The birds are noisiest at sunrise, but their high-pitched, Flicker- 

 like notes resound through the swamp at all times of the day. 



