PICID.E — THE WOODrECKKUS. 525 



mon. (Report of an Kxpedition down the Zufii and Colorado Jiiver.s, 

 Zoiilogy, p. 81).) \Vils(tn nidy met with it in the i>ine woods of \orth Caro- 

 lina, (Jeor^ia, and South Carolina, and does not appear to have been ae- 

 (piainted witli its hahits. Auduhon speaks of it as \mi\*f foinid al)un«lantly 

 \unn Texas to New Jersey, and as far inland as Tennessee, and as nowhere 

 more numerous than in the pine barrens of Florida, (leor^da, and the Caro- 

 linjis. He found these birds mated in Florichi as earlv as Januarv, and 

 enjjjaued in jn'eparin^' a l)reedin^f-i>lace in February. The ne.^t, he states, is 

 not unfrequently bored in a decayed stump about thirty feet hi^h. The ejjt;.s 

 he describes a.s smootli and })ure white, and as usually four in nund)er, 

 though he has found as many as six in a nest. The yonng crawl out of their 

 holes Ixjfore thev are able to tlv, and wait on the bninches to receive the food 

 brought by their ]>arents until they are able to shift for theviselves. During 

 the breediu' '-season the call of these birds is more than usually livelv and 

 petulant, and is reiterated through the pine woods wliere it is chiefly 

 found. 



Wilson compares the common call-notes of these birds to the querulous 

 cries of young l>irds. His attention was first directed to them by this 

 peculiarity. He characterizes the species as restless, active, and clamorous. 



Though almost exclusively a Southern species, and principally found south 

 of North Carolina, individuals have l)een knx'^wn to wander much farther 

 north. Mr. G. N. Lawrence obtained a specimen of this bird in Hoboken, 

 N. J., opposite Xew York City. 



In (piickness of motion this Woodpecker is said to be equalled by very 

 few of the family. Mr. Audubon states that it glides upwards and sideways, 

 along the trunks and branches, on the hnver as well as the upper sides of 

 the latter, moving with great celerity, and occasionally uttering a short, shrill, 

 clear cry, that can be heard at a considerable distance. ^Ir. Audubon kept 

 a wounded one several days. It soon cut its way out of a cage, and as- 

 cended the wall of the room as it would a tree, seizing such spiders and 

 insects as it was able to find. Other than this it would take no food, and 

 was set at liberty. 



In the stomach of one dissected were found small ants and a few minute 

 coleopterous insects. In Florida it mates in January and nests in February. 

 In the winter it seeks shelter in holes, as also in stormy weather. Mr. 

 Audubon states that it occasionally feeds on grain and on small fruits. 

 Some go to the gi'ound to .search for those that have fallen from trees. They 

 are always found in pairs, and during the breeding-season are yery pugna- 

 cious. 



. An egg of this species obtained near Wilmington, N. C, by Mr. X. Giles, 

 measures .95 by .70 of an inch. It is pure white, ai)peared less glossy than 

 the eggs of most Woodjieckers, and was of a more elliptical shape. An- 

 other egg of this bird sent to me by Mr. Samuel Pasco of Monticello, Fla., 

 measures .98 by .70 of an inch, being even more oblong in shape, and cor- 



