124 RED-HEADED WOODPECKER 



for a good many years been very rare in Massachu- 

 setts; and therefore when, during the freshness of my 

 ornithological researches, I went to Washington for a 

 month's visit, it was one of the things which I had 

 especially in mind, to make his acquaintance. But I 

 looked for him without success till, at the end of a 

 fortnight, I made a pilgrimage to Mount Vernon. 

 Here, after visiting the grave and going over the 

 house, as every visitor does, I sauntered about the 

 grounds, thinking of the great man who used to do 

 the same so many years before, but all the while keep- 

 ing my eyes open for the present feathered inhabi- 

 tants of the sacred spot. Soon a bird darted by me 

 and struck against the trunk of an adjacent tree, and 

 glancing up quickly I beheld my much-sought Red- 

 headed Woodpecker. How appropriately patriotic 

 he looked at the home of Washington, wearing the 

 national colors, red, white and blue! After this he 

 became abundant about the capital, so that I saw him 

 often and took much pleasure in his frolicsome ways." 



The Red-heads are found in various open oak 

 woods north of the city, at Mount Pleasant, about 

 Freedmen's Hospital, in Glenwood Cemetery, and 

 often on the heights above Florida Avenue; but they 

 are wandering, irregular birds and their presence in 

 any particular locality cannot be depended upon. Out 

 in the country they are often noticed about old 

 orchards. 



In spring they are the noisiest of drummers and 

 also have, a loud, rattling call which proclaims their 

 presence, but in nesting time they are very quiet. 



The hole of the Red-head is often in a half-dead 

 tree, rather high up, and the eggs, 4 to 6, are laid on 

 the fine chips left by the bird carpenters. 



