556 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



one of the Ijirds of Veriiioiit, nor tloes Lieutenant lUand mention it as one 

 of the birds of Xova Scotia, and it is not inchided by .Sir John llichardson 

 in the Fauna Borcali-Anuricana. 



Mr. Audubon speaks of it as generally more confined to the interior of 

 forests tlian the Hairy Woodpecker, especially during the breeding-season. 

 He further states that he never met with its nest in Louisiana or South 

 Carolina, but that it was not rare in Kentucky, and that, from the State of 

 jMaryland to Xova Scotia, it breeds in all convenient places, usually more in 

 the woods than out of them. He also states that he has found the nests in 

 orchards in Pennsylvania, generally not far from the junction of a l)ranch 

 with the trunk. He describes the hole as bored in the ordinary manner. 

 The eggs are seldom more than four in number, and measure 1.0(5 inches in 

 lengtli and .75 of an inch in breadth. They are of an elliptical form, smooth, 

 pure white, and translucent. They are not known to raise more than one 

 brood in a sefvson. 



Wilson si)eaks of tliis species as more shy and less domestic than the lied- 

 headeil or any of the other sjjotted Woodpeckers, and also as more solitary. 

 He adds that it prefers the largest liigh-timbered woods and the tallest de- 

 cayed trees of the forest, seldom appearing near the ground, on tlie fences, 

 or in orchards or ojten fields. In regard to their nesting, he says that the 

 pair, in conjunction, dig out a circular cavity for the nest in the lower 

 side of some lofty branch tliat makes a considerable angle with the horizon. 

 Sometimes they e.xcavate this in the solid wood, but more generally in a 

 hollow limb, some fifteen inches above where it becomes solid. This is 

 usually done early in April. The female lays five eggs, of a pure white, or 

 almost semi-transparent. The young generally make their appearance 

 towards the latter part of May. Wilson was of the opinion that they pro- 

 duced two broods in r, season. 



Mr. I )re.sser i'ound tliis bird resident and abundant in Texas. It is also 

 equally al)undant in Louisiana aiul in Florida, and Mr. Ridgway considers 

 it very common in Southern Illinois. Neither Mr. lioardman nor Mr. 

 Verrill have found it in Maine. Mr. j\lcllwraith has, however, taken three 

 specimens at Hamilton, Canada AVest, May .i, near Chatliam. Air. Allen 

 gives it as a summer visitant in Western Alassachusetts, having seen one on 

 the i;U]i of May, 18G:i. It has also been taken several times in Connecticut, 

 by I'rofesRor Emmons, who met with it, during the breeding-.soason, in 

 the extreme M-es;3rn part of the State. Mr. Lawrenc^ has found it near 

 New York City, and Mr. Turnbull in Eastern Pennsylvania. 



The eggs vary from an oblong to a somewhat rounded oval shi.pe, are of a 

 bright crysti nine whiteness, and their measurements average 1.02 inches in 

 length by .88 of an inch in breadth. 



