THE PILEATED WOODPECKER. 149 



king of birds hereabouts, thou needst have no fear on 

 my account ! I am not thine enemy, only thy rival. 

 Beneath the bark and rotten wood of trees I, too, 

 seek insects. Thou lookest principally after the lar- 

 val forms, I after the mature. Thou seekest them 

 for sustenance, I for pastime. If thou wert only 

 willing, together we might work, in peace and har- 

 mony, on the same snag at the same time. I could 

 watch the movements of thy powerful bill as it sank 

 deep into the decaying wood, and could in turn pull 

 off with my implement of search, my good right arm, 

 great pieces of the loose bark and unfold to thy gaze 

 many a white ant, many a fat grub. But thou wiliest 

 otherwise and lookest upon me as an enemy. Far be 

 it from my mind to do thee harm. I only wish thee 

 success in finding many a grub for thy morning's 

 meal, even if by so doing thou shalt lessen the num- 

 ber of mature beetles which will, perchance, fall to 

 my share in future days. 



I note where an oak has thrust its tap root through 

 a layer of the coquina rock, three feet in thickness. 

 The root, now decayed, is eight inches in diameter. 

 Perchance a worm hole first gave lodgement to the 

 tiny rootlet of the sprouting acorn. 



The first mature^ males of the slender-bodied, gray- 

 ish-brown locust, Rhadinotatum brevipenne Thos., 

 were seen on March 22nd. To-day the mature females 

 are abundant. It is the most curious Orthopteran 

 found here at this season. The body is very slender 



