498 NOKTII AMKUICAN IJIUDS. 



of the Mnls o\' tliJit island, as olhserved l>y liiiii, OctnlKM*, 1S.')(I, uikI l»y Dr. 

 Juliii (uindhicli, ill liis list of tlu' birds that Ihi'imI in Cuha. It is not nu'ii- 

 tioiied hv Gosse aiiioii*' the hirds «)t' Janiaifa, nor l»v tluj Newtons as found 

 in St. Croix. As it is ncjt a nii^ratorv l>iid, it may ht* ruj^'arded jis hreedin*,' in 

 all its localities, except where it is t»l>N iously an accidental visitant. 



Wilson, who never met with the nest of this Woodpecker, states, on tlie 

 authority of relial)le informants, that it breeds in the lar^e-tinihered cypress 

 swamps of the Carolinas. In the trunks of these trees at a considerahle 

 height fnmi the ground, both parents w«»rkin^' alternately, these birds di^^ out 

 a larije and ca]»acious cavitv for their e<i''s and voun«'. Trees thus duii out 

 have fre([ueiitly been cut down with both the eg^'s and the young in them. 

 The hole was described to Wilson as fjenerally a little windin<j:, to keej» out 

 the rain, and sometimes live feet deep. The e<j:^s were said to be j^eiierally 

 four, sometimes Hve in number, as lsir«;e as jaillets', jaire white, and e(|ually 

 thick at l)oth ends. The young make their ajfpearance about the middle or 

 end of June. 



!Mr. Audubon, whose account (»f the breeding-habits of the Tvory-bill is 

 given from his own inmiediate ob.servations, su])plies a more minute and de- 

 tailed history of its nesting. He states that it breeds earlier in spring than 

 anv utiier species of its tribe, and that he has observed it boring a h<de lor 

 tiiat ])urpose as early as the beginning of March. This hole he lielieved to 

 be .^Ivays made in the trunk of a live tree, generally an ash or a hackberry, 

 and at a great height. It pays great regard to the particular situation of the 

 tree and the inclination of the trunk, both with a view to retirement antl to 

 secure the a])erture against rains. To prevent the latter injury, the hole is 

 generally dug immediately under the protection of a large branch. It is 

 first bored horizontally a few inches, then directly downward, and ncjt in a 

 spiral direction, as Wilson was informed. This cavity is sometimes not 

 more than ten inches in depth, while at other times it reaches nearly three 

 feet downward into the heart of the tree. The older the bird, the deeper its 

 hole, in the opinion of Mr. Audubon. The average diameter of the different 

 nests which ^Ir. Audubon examined was about seven inches in the inner 

 parts, although the entrance is only just large enough to admit the bird. 

 Both birds work most assiduously in makintj these excavations. ^Ir. Audu- 

 bon states that in two instances Avhere the Woodpeckers saw him watching 

 them at their labors, wliile they were diguing their nests, they abandoned 

 them. For the first brood, he states, there are generally six eggs. These are 

 dejmsited on a few chips at the bottom of the hole, and are of a pure white 

 color. The young may be seen creeping out of their holes about a fortnight 

 before they venture to fiy to any other tree. The second brood makes its 

 appearance about the loth of August. In Kentucky and Indiana the Tvory- 

 l)ill seldom raises more than one brood in a season. Its llight is described 

 by Audubon as graceful in the extreme, though seldom prolonged to more 

 than a few hundred yards at a time, except when it has occasion to cross a 



