PICID.E — THE WOODPECKERS. 525 



iiion. (Report of an Kxpeilitinn down tlie Zuni and Colorado Ilivi'rs, 

 Zoiilogy, p. 89.) Wilson imly met with it in the jiiiio woods of North Caro- 

 lina, (Jeorjfia, and South Carolina, and does not ap[iear to have heen ac- 

 ((uainted with its habits. Audulion sjieaks of it as lioinj^ found altundaiitly 

 from Texas to Now Jersey, and as far inlan<l as Tennessee, and as nowlierc 

 more numerous than in the pine barrens of Florida, (leorj^da, an<l the Caro- 

 linas. He found these birds mated in Florida as early as January, and 

 cn<fa<;ed in preparing a lireeding-jjlace in P'ebruary. The nest, he states, is 

 not unfrequontly bored in a decayed stump about thirty feet high. The eggs 

 he descril)es as smooth and i)ure white, and as usually four in number, 

 tliough he has found as many as six in a nest. The yoiuig crawl out of their 

 holes before they arc able to tly, and wait on the branches to receive the food 

 bronght by their jiarents until they arc able to shift ibr thcKisclves. .')uring 

 the breeding-season the call of these birds is more than usually lively and 

 petulant, and is reiterated through the pine woods where it is chieily 

 found. 



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

 cries of young birds. His attention was first directed to them by this 

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



Though almo.st exclusively a .Southern species, and principally found south 

 of North Carolina, individuals have been known to wander much farther 

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

 N. J., opposite New York (-"ity. 



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

 few of the family. ^Ir. Audul)on states that it glides upwards and sideways, 

 along the trunks and branches, on the lower 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. Mr. Audubon kept 

 a womuled 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 iti stormy weather. IMr. 

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

 Some go to the ground to search for those that have i'allen from trees. They 

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

 ciou,s. 



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



