June 1890.] 



AND OOLOGIST. 



91 



feet from tlie top of tlic stump, and at about 

 tlie same distance still further down were two 

 more old holes, probably last years nesting 

 sites. They had evidentlj^ finished work on 

 the first hole, and the next day they immedi- 

 ately began to dig another hole about a foot 

 below tlie first one. This they completed in 

 two days as the wood was very soft. 



I visited the place several times daily, and 

 sometimes I found the birds in one hole and 

 sometimes in the other — the male as often as 

 the female. Things were getting rather 

 mixed, and to add to my consternation I dis- 

 covered a new hole being excavated on the 

 opposite side of the stump. In this case I 

 always observed it was only the male that was 

 at work, but I could not tell in what hole the 

 female was laying. I thought, however, 

 it was in the lower one, so on May 20th I 

 opened it only to find it empty. I now felt 

 satisfied that the nest was in the upper one, 

 and two days afterwards (the22d) I tore open 

 this nest and as I reached down I felt eggs. 



What a delightful sensation there is about it! 

 I brought them out one at a time until I 

 had a nice set of five. I reached in again for 

 luck and under the soft chii)s I found another 

 — six. In I went again, one more — seven. 

 This was all, for I removed the cdiips until 

 they would not cover a Hummingbird's egg. 

 They were perfectly fresh as I could see the 

 yellow yolk through the glossy shell. 



In considering the matter I found that in 

 order to lay one egg each day they must have 

 begun on the lOth, the day they finished dig- 

 ging, unless they laid more than one a day. 

 Both the Florida Gallinule and the Sora Rail 

 lay more than one egg a day to my certain 

 knowledge, but whether the Woodpecker did 

 (u- not I am of course unable to say. 



Just as I started uj) tlie stump, the male bird, 

 who was on the eggs, fiew to a neighboring 

 tree and set up a plaintive cry like Ki-i Ki-i 

 shrill and drawn out. When I came down the 

 birds fiew immediately to the ragged hole 

 where their nest was, and first one bird 

 would take a peep in a dazed sort of way, then 

 the other; finally the male mustered up 

 courage enough to venture inside, but soon 

 came out, and after a short consultation both 

 fiew olT. 



It was a matter of wonder to me how the 

 birds could enter a hole so small as they did. 

 The entrance to this nest was by measurement 

 but an inch and three-eighths in diameter, and 

 to my eye perfectly circular. It went straight 

 in for a distance of about two inches and then 



turned abruptly down and gradually assumed a 

 pear shaped form, wide and spacious at the 

 bottom with a fioor of soft chijis. 



In the meantime I had located another pair 

 building in an iron wood stump. I profited by 

 my first experience and traced the nesting 

 tree by the chips scattered about. The stump 

 was about fifteen feet high, and leaned at an 

 angle of about forty-five degrees. The nest 

 was within a foot of the top and on the 

 underside. 



On May 28th I opened this nest. I first cut 

 a suitable tree with a good crotch at the end, 

 and this I placed firmly against a tree and 

 ascended without difficulty. But to open the 

 nest was quite another thing for the wood was 

 dense and solid and thoroughly seasoned. My 

 dull hatchet would hardly make a mark on it, 

 and what was worse, every time I struck the 

 stump it would shake and vibrate so that 

 there was danger of the eggs being broken. 

 I finally succeeded in reaching the eggs, by 

 "chewing" off the top of the stub by keep- 

 ing doggedly at it with the old relic that had 

 served as a wire cutter and coal chisel among 

 other things. 



The nest contained a set of five slightly 

 incubated eggs, and whole much to my surprise, 

 as when I was making the opening a great 

 many large chips fell in. 



My nexr was found June 3d, at a height of 

 about fifty feet in the dead top of a large 

 Maple. This nest was also discovered by the 

 presence of chips from the nest. It contained 

 five fresh eggs. 



On June 23d, as I chanced to pass the stub I 

 had secured my set of seven from I saw a 

 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker fiy from the same 

 hole that the previous set had been found in. 

 Upon an examination I found another set of 

 four incubated eggs, and what is more I found 

 a small runt egg in the hole on the opposite 

 side of the tree. The runt egg was about the 

 size of a Phoebe's and contained no yolk. 



The birds seem to prefer the society of man 

 rather than the seclusion of the woods, as 

 all the nests found were within a hundred yards 

 of a large hotel, where trains and steamboats 

 were moving about. 



The eggs are very small for tUe size of the 

 bird, barely exceeding in size those of the 

 Hairy Woodpecker, but are quite different in 

 shape, being more of a true ovate, and con- 

 trary to ijreviously published accounts, those 

 eggs collected by myself are very glossy. 



I must not forget to mention a peculiar 

 trait the birds have of lighting on telegraph 



