38 



THE OOLOGIST. 



After sand papering it, I finished it off 

 with a coat of black enamel. 



Another tray was finished off with 

 cherry stain and another was cut out of 

 cedar and left with the natural finish. 



These trays have a few advantages 

 over tho paste-hoard variety. They do 

 not warp and can he had of any size or 

 shape. They can he made to fit the cab- 

 iuet drawer very snugly and produce a 

 beautiful effect. Imagine, reader, a tray 

 finished off in black enamel, filled with 

 red cedar sawdust, and a set of four 

 beautiful, blue eggs of the Wood Thrush 

 reposing therein. 



The trays can be made very cheaply. 

 Poplar wood is the best and perhaps the 

 cheapest. For a small amount, an inch 

 board can be bought that will make a 

 great many. After drssing the board, 

 a sixteenth of an inch on each side, it 

 may be cut into the blocks of the size 

 desired. Then they are ready for the 

 lathe. 



I had my trays cut out very cheaply 

 at the rate of one dollar per hundred at a 

 cabinet shop. These I finished off ac- 

 cording to my taste and time. 



Next month, T may say a few words 

 concerning the data I use, providing 

 the editor does not consign this to the 

 waste basket. 



W. E. Loucks. 

 Peoria, Ills. 



Pileated Woodpecker. 



I read the article on the Pileated 

 Woodpecker in the last number of the 

 Oologist, and would like to make 

 known to the readers of this paper 

 some of my notes on this bird. 



I had read considerable about how 

 shy and retiring it was and how it dis- 

 appeared from its haunts as civilization 

 advanced. The first time I came across 

 this King of Northern Woodpeckers 

 was Oct. 5, 1888. 1 was at Trout Brook 

 about twenty-five miles from Minnea- 

 polis, hunting gray squirrels. I was in 



a small grove of trees, near a traveled 

 road and within three hundred yards of 

 a farm house. I had just shot a large 

 grey squirrel, when I saw a large black 

 bird fly from a neighboring tree and 

 alight on a fence close by, which upon 

 being shot proved to be a Pileated 

 Woodpecker. Upon showing my bird 

 to a farmer, he said one of his boys had 

 shot one two weeks before in the same 

 place. 



The next time was June 5, 1891 at 

 Buffalo, Wright Co., Minn. I was at 

 Buffalo Lake after some of those five 

 pound bass, which inhabit its waters. 

 One night after a hard days work with 

 the rod, we were taking it easy and tell- 

 ing a few "that reminds me" yarns. 

 One of the party told of a Heron roost, 

 that he had A'isited a short time back, 

 and a colony of Woodpeckers, that he 

 had found down near Pelican Lake. 



As I was very desirous of securing 

 another specimen I started for Pelican 

 Lake the next morning at dajdight. 

 After an hour's drive I put up at a 

 farmhouse, and went across the fields 

 to the woods. At the edge of the 

 woods from on old cotton-wood stub, 

 about forty feet high I saw a Pileated 

 Woodpecker fly. I had found my 

 birds and now to get one. I followed 

 in chase but could not get a shot so I 

 returned to the nest, sat down and 

 waited for the Woodpecker to come 

 back. It was a long wait, but at about 

 noon back he came and flew upon the 

 top of a tall cotton-wood; it was an 

 easy shot: he is now No. 213 in my cab- 

 inet. 



Now the cottonwood stub in which 

 this Woodpecker had its nest is within 

 three hundred feet of a farm house, 

 with a path running directly under 

 the tree. 



In these two cases which have come 

 under my notice, it will be seen that 

 these Woodpeckers do not always shun 

 civilization; or has my experience been 

 entirely different. 



W. F. Dealing, 

 Minneapolis, Minn, 



