FOREIGN BIRDS FOR CAGE AND AVIARY. 



is equally easy for it to <go backward or sidewise, and 

 it 16 astonishing how readily it can move in any direc- 

 tion. The strong feet and sharp claws enable it to hold 

 firmly to the bark, and the stiff, spiny tail feathers 

 also come in play while it is at work, acting as a sup- 

 port for the body, which is well thrown back when a 

 blow is delivered with its powerful, chisel-like bill. 

 Although usually rather shy, when busy in search of 

 food one will occasionally allow itself to oe very Closely 

 approached." 



" Our Hairy Woodpecker is one of the earliest of this 

 family to breed. The nesting season begins in the 

 latter part of March, and the species is at this time 

 one of the noisiest members of this family. The male, 

 when not in search of food, now seems to occupy him- 

 self almost exclusively with drumming on a resonant 

 dead limb, generally situated near the top of some 

 tall tree. The louder the noise produced, the more 

 satisfactory it appears to be to the performer ; it seems 

 to be a sort of love-note and call to the females, and, 

 as far as I have been able to observe, is only indulged 

 in by the male. In flying from one tree to another a 

 shrill, sharp " huip, huip " is often uttered, and during 

 the mating season both sexes are very demonstrative 

 and utter quite a number of different notes. I believe 

 this species remains paired through life. Nidification 

 begins usually early in April, and it requires abo'U a 

 week to prepare the nesting site. Both sexes take part 

 in this labour, and it is really wonderful how neat and 

 smooth an excavation these birds can make with their 

 chisel-shaped bills in a comparatively short time. The 

 entrance hole is as round as if made with an auger, 

 about 2 inches in diameter, and just large enough to 

 admit the body of the bird : the edges are nicely bevelled, 

 the inside is equally smooth, and the cavity is gradually 

 enlarged toward the bottom. The entrance hole, which 

 is not infrequently placed under a limb for protection 

 from the weather, generally runs in straight through 

 the solid wood for about 3 inches, and then downward 

 from 10 to 18 inches, and some of the finer chips arc 

 allowed to remain on the bottom of the cavity in which 

 the eggs are deposited. Both dead and living trees are 

 selected for nesting sites, generally the former. AVhcn 

 living trees are chosen, the inner core or heart of the 

 tree is usually more or less decayed. These nesting- 

 sites are nearly always selected with such good judg- 

 ment that such obstacles as hard knots are rarely en- 

 countered. Should this occur, the site is abandoned 

 and a fresh one selected. After this is completed, the 

 male frequently excavates another hole, or even several, 

 in the same tree or in another close by in which t-> 

 pass the night or to seek shelter, and to be close to 

 the nest while the female is incubating ; these holes 

 are not so deep as the others. A fresh nesting site 

 is generally selected each season, but where suitable 

 trees are scarce the same one nny bs uaod for several 

 years in succession, and in such a case it is usuallv 

 thoroughly cleaned out and the old chips in the bottom 

 removed and replaced by fresh ones. Beech, ash, 

 poplar, birch, oa.k, sycamore, haw, and apple trees are 

 mostly used for nesting sites." 



" In the New England States and northern Now York 

 fresh eggs art* r.s"al]y found during the first week in 

 May, and unliirtilly onlv one brood is raised in a 

 season. In the Adirondacks their holes are often found 

 from 40 to 50 feet from the ground. The duties of 

 incubation are divided between the sexes, and last 

 about two weeks. The young, when first hatched, are 

 repulsive-looking creatures, blind and naked, with enor- 

 mously large heads, and ugly protuberances at the base 

 of the bill, resembling a reptile more than a bird. They 

 are totally helpless for some days, and cannot stand, 



but they soon learn to climb. They are fed by the 

 parents by regurgitation of their food, which is the 

 usual way in which the young of most Woodpeckers 

 are fed when first hatched. Later, however, a few 

 species, like the Red-headed Woodpecker and other 

 members of this genus, feed their young in the ordinary 

 manner, carrying the food in their bills. The young 

 remain in the nest about threa weeks. When disturbed 

 they utter a low, purring noise, whidh reminds me some- 

 what of that made by bees when swarming, and when 

 a little older they utter a soft ' puirr, puirr.' Even 

 after leaving the nest, they are assiduously cared for 

 by both parents for several weeks, until able to pro- 

 vide for themselves. Should the first set of eggs be 

 taken, a second, and sometimes even a third, is laid 

 at intervals of from ten to fourteen days, and if the 

 nesting site has not been destroyed or the entrance hole 

 enlarged (which can readily be avoided by sawing out a 

 sufficiently large piece below the hole, enabling the col- 

 lector to insert his hand, and replacing this again 

 carefully after taking the eggs), they will frequently use 

 it a second time. 



" The number of eggs laid to a set varies from three 

 to five, usually four. I have been informed that sets 

 of six a.nd seven have been taken, but I doubt this. 

 'I'll 'v are nearly oval in shape, sometimes, elliptical 

 oval, and occasionally rounded ovate. The shell is very 

 finely granulated, glossy, and semi- translucent when 

 fresh, the yolk being plainly visible then ; but as in- 

 cubation advances it becomes more opaque. Like all 

 Woodpeckers' eggs they are pure white -and unspotted. 



" The average measurement of twenty-nine speci- 

 mens in the United States National Museum collection 

 is 23.65 by 17.94 millimetres, or about 0.93 by 

 0.71 inch." 



Russ observes that this species reaches us in Europe 

 extremely rarely and singly in the zoological gardens. 

 He does not specify any gardens which have possessed 

 it, but I take it as certain that he must have had defi- 

 nite information, or he could hardily assert that it had 

 ever been imported. It seems never to have arrived at 

 the London Zoological Gardens, and now that the 

 capture of native birds is prohibited in the- United 

 ea, it can only be secured by exchange with a 

 Government institution. 



YELLOW-HEADED WOODPECKER (Celeus 



Above black, the back and scapulars with narrow 

 yellow bars ; rump yellow, as also the edges of some 

 of the adjacent upper tail-coverts ; wing-coverts more or 

 margined with yellow, the median and greater 

 coverts 'barred with yellowish white ; bastard wing and 

 primary coverts, inner webs, and base of outer webs of 

 inner primaries spotted with yellowish white ; secon- 

 daries narrowly barred with the same colour on both 

 webs; two outer large tail feathers with distal portion 

 of inner web and dwarf feather on both webs spotted 

 with white; head, crest, back of neck, chin, and throat 

 huffish yellow ; lores spotted with b'.acl*; a large crim- 

 son patch on cheeks ; fore neck and under surface 

 generally, black ; feathers of upper fore neck with 

 yellow margins ; some of those on lower fore neck and 

 of thighs and under tail-coverts in part narrowly edged 

 with sordid buff-whitish; sides of body barrel with 

 yellow; tibial plumes huffish yellow; under wing- 

 coverts and axillaries lemon-yellow. Female with 

 shorter crest ; the cheeks yellow, striped with bla"k, no 

 crimson patch ; general colouring a trifle paler. Hab., 

 Eastern and Southern Brazil, extending north to Bahia. 

 (Hargitt.) 



Burmeister .--ays (" Systematische Uebersicht," Vol. 

 II., p. 231) : "The Woodpecker is unusually abundant 



