238 Bendire 01) the Habits of the Genus Sfhyrapicus. [July 



pine trees and shrubs, the only condition guiding their choice of 

 a home being a shelter from the strong west winds. My own 

 observations agree pretty well with his. He says: "A marked 

 peculiarity I have noted with S. thyroideiis is that the male 

 takes a lookout station upon some suitable tree, where at the ap- 

 proach of any possible danger he gives the alarm by striking a 

 short dry limb with his bill, by which a peculiar vii)rating 

 sound is given out, which the female, not very distant, fully un- 

 derstands, and is at once on the alert. If either excavating, 

 guarding or covering her eggs, she will immediately look out of 

 her burrow, and should the intruder's path lie in the direction of 

 her nest, she will silently slip away and alight in a tree some 

 distance off, but in view of both her nest and the intruder. The 

 first or second blow of your hatchet upon the tree trunk in which 

 the nest is excavated will mark her movement again by a short 

 flight, so managed as not to increase the distance, in fact oftener 

 coming nearer. When satisfied that her treasures have been dis- 

 covered, she utters a peculiar, low grating sound, not unlike the 

 purr of a cat. The male then comes to the fore and braves the 

 danger, is very courageous, and should the eggs be far advanced 

 by incubation, he will enter the nest when you are almost within 

 reach of it. When the latter is rifled, he is always the first to go 

 in and discover the fact, repeating the entrance and exit business 

 several times, in a surprised sort of manner. The large gaping 

 opening, made by the robber's hatchet, he seems to ignore alto- 

 gether. To him it seems impossible that a few minutes only 

 suffices to cut through the wall of wood that took his mate as 

 many days of hard labor to accomplish. Presently he is joined by 

 the female, a joint inspection is made, a verdict of grand larceny 

 quickly reached, and the conclusion arrived at, 'well, we shall 

 have to try again, with the hope of better luck next time.' " 



Nidification is similar to that of the other species of the genus, 

 with the exception of the difference in the matter of trees pre- 

 ferred already mentioned. The height of nesting-sites varies con- 

 siderably, say from five to sixty feet, and perhaps more still in 

 exceptional cases. Fresh eggs may be looked for, according to 

 altitude, from May 20 to June 15 ; Mr. Gale took a fine set of 

 six, which I judge to have been perfectly fresh, from the exqui- 

 site manner in which they are prepared, on May 26, 1887. 



I obtained my first set of eggs of this species on June 3, 1SS3, 



