58 



THE OOLOGIST 



sometimes from four to five inches 

 long and half an inch thick. Our im- 

 mediate wooded districts being very 

 limited it wiill not be long before their 

 departure from our locality. In April 

 1907, Mr. Savage and Mr. Van Duzee, 

 while strolling through the woods 

 near Buffalo, discovered the trunk of 

 a beach tree about forty feet high 

 which bore the unmistakable evidence 

 of having been the object of attack of 

 this bird. In several places enormous 

 hollows had been cut away extending 

 to the very heart of the tree and at 

 the foot of the tree was heaped a 

 mound of chips which amounted to 

 about two bushels in volume. The 

 hollows were on one side of the tree, 

 the lower one, the largest, about six 

 inches wide extending about three 

 feet up and down the trunk. This 

 penetrated quite to the heart of the 

 tree which was dead and decayed 

 throughout a large part of its extent. 

 Another about a foot by four inches 

 in size and two smaller ones of a more ■ 

 circular shape were seen just above 

 the whole extent of the excavation be- 

 ing in a surface about six feet long. 

 The wood of the tree is practically 

 honeycombed with the circular bor- 

 ings of the larvae of the horn-tail 

 (tremex columba) in search of which 

 the Woodpecker had clone the exca- 

 vating in question. 



Realizing the importance of this 

 specimen as showing the power of 

 the bird as well as its occurrence in 

 this locality, arrangements were 

 made by the Buffalo Society of Nat- 

 ural Sciences to secure this speci- 

 men and preserve it permanently in 

 our Museum. The tree stood on the 

 property of Mr. J. A. Hutchinson, and 

 through the efforts of Mr. Van Duzee 

 it was cut down and brought to our 

 rooms where it can be seen in the de- 

 partment of Ornithology. 



Shortly after the discovery of the 



tree, Mr. Savage reports that the bird 

 was seen and allowed him to approach 

 sufficiently near so that by the aid of 

 his glass there was no doubt about 

 the identification of the bird. The 

 mate was heard calling in the woods 

 a short distance away and was later 

 seen and identified by him. Certain 

 other excavations of a less extensive 

 nature showed that they had been 

 busy in the neighborhood for some 

 timw. Ottomar Reinecke. 



Nesting Habits of Lawrences 

 Goldfinch. 



Astralaginus lawrencei (Cassin), A. 

 O. U. No. 531, is a common spring and 

 summer resident of Los Angeles Coun- 

 ty, occurring in suitable localities from 

 the mesas to 7000 feet in the moun- 

 tains, and occasionally even higher. 



A few birds remain throughout the 

 year, but the majority migrate south 

 and east through Mexico and Arizona, 

 and they are rare here from November 

 to April. 



Nest-building begins usually during 

 the last week of April, and fresh eggs 

 are found mostly in May, although 

 sets have been found from April to 

 July. . 



Evergreens are favorite sites for 

 the location of nests of this species; 

 cypress, pine, and fir trees being most 

 often chosen. They nest at no great 

 height from the ground, generally un- 

 der fifteen feet, most usually eight or 

 ten, although I once found a nest with 

 two eggs near the top of a pine tree 

 fully fifty feet from the ground. 



The nests are well made, composed 

 of grasess, plant stems, and small dry 

 leaves, well lined with feathers. They 

 are deeply cupped and placed most 

 commonly on a horizontal limb. The 

 eggs, four or five in number, are easily 

 distinguished from those of other spe- 

 cies of the genus, being pure white. 

 Their average size is .60 x .45. 



