I'ICID.K TIIK \V(M>I)1'K('KKKS. 



'"i'jl 



Columbia, etc.) liavo no tmco of tlic wliite spots on ends of outer primaries, 

 always found in eastern s]>eeimens. 



Haiuts. No niemUer I f tills lar<j[(» I'amilv lias a wider distrilmtion tliau 

 the IMleated Woodpecker, extdidiii^- from the (lulf of Mexico to the ex- 

 tremest limits of the northern forest-;, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific. 

 It seems to be a resident every wliere hut in its extreme northern localities, 

 rather than a mi«^ratory s]>eeies. Tlieii* are s[)ecimens in the Smithsonian 

 collection from Xelson Kiver, on the north, to St. Jolins lliver, Florida, on 

 the south, and from Pennsylvania on the ea.'-t to the Piodrandeand the Co- 

 hunhia on the west. Sir John Picliardson {Fituna JlinrKll-Aiiit'i'icduti, II, p. 

 lim) speaks of it as resident all the year in the interior of the fur countries, 

 up to the 02(1 or O.'Ul i)arallels, rarely ap]»earin^ near Hudson's Pay, hut fre- 

 quenting^ the L'loomiest recesses of the forests liiiiL skirt the Pocky Mtain- 

 tains. Dr. Woodiiouse, in his Pe))ort on the natural history of the expedi- 

 tion down the Zuni and the Colorad) Pivers, speaks of this Woodpecker as 

 havinii been found abundant in the Indian Territorv, Texas, and Xew 

 Mexico. Neither Dr. (Jambel nor Dr. Heermann give it in their lists of the 

 birds of California, nor does Dr. Newberry mention meeting with it in his 

 Peport of the zoidogy of his route. J>r. Suckley, however, speaks of the 

 Log-Cock as abundant in tlu^ vii'inity of F«nt Steilacoom, Washington Terri- 

 tory, during summer, antl Dr. C(H»per also mentions it as an abundant and 

 constant resident in the forests of the Territorv. I have occasionallv met 

 with it in the wilder portions of New Hampshii'e and Maine, l)ut have no- 

 where been so fortunate as to observe its nest or its breedin«4-liabits. It has 

 always seemed a very shy bird, dilhcult of ap]>roach, always keeping at a 

 safe distance, and ever greeting your attemi)ts for a nearer view with a loud, 

 cacklinii; crv, not unlike a derisive^ laugli. 



According to the observations of Wils(jn. their eggs are deposited in the 

 hole of a tree dug out by themselves, no other materials beini" used ]>ut the 

 soft chips of rotten wood. The female lays six eggs, of a sntjwy whiteness, 

 and thev are said to raise two Ijroods in a season. 



Mr. Audulion states that it almost always bree<ls in the interior of the 

 forest, and freipiently on trees placed in deej) swann)s over the water, a])- 

 pearing to give a preference to the southern side of the tree, on which side 

 the hole is usually found to wliich thev retreat in the winter and durinix 

 stormy weather. The iiole is sometimes bored i)erpendicularly, but occasion- 

 ally in the form of that (»f the Ivory-billed Woodpecker. The usual depth 

 is from twelve to eighteen inches, the breadth from two and a half to three, 

 and at the bottom iive or six. He l)elieved they raise but a simple brood 

 in a season. The young follow their parents a long while, sometimes until 

 the return of spring. 



Pev. Dr. Pachman gives an interesting account of a pair of Pileated 

 Woodpeckers building a nest in an old elm-tree in a swamp, and occu})ying 

 it the first year. Early the next spring two lUuebirds took possession of 



