388 



THE OCTjOGIST 



Western Red-bellied Hawk's Nest and Eggs 



— Photo by J. B. Dixon. 



they were nesting in the vicinity, but 

 so carefully were their nests hidden 

 that all attempts to find them were 

 unsuccessful. 



In the summer of 1911 my brother, 

 while driving through a piece of old 

 growth woods about a quarter of a 

 mile from our home, saw a young 

 Pileated Woodpecker barely able to 

 fly. This made it certain that this 

 species of bird had had a nest in those 

 woods. Greatly encouraged by this 

 circumstance, I decided to try to find 

 the nest the next year. 



The next spring I was returning 

 home through these woods about the 

 middle of April after an unsuccessful 

 hunt for a Great-horned Owl's nest 

 which I had been trying to find since 

 the last of February. While passing 

 through a swamp in which there were 

 quite a number of dead stubs I noticed 

 a large circular hole about half way 



up in a large poplar stub. I went to 

 the foot of the stub and soon made 

 certain that some bird was making a 

 nest there, for the ground was strewn 

 with fresh chips dug from the inside. 

 I made no attempt to climb the stub 

 for I did not wish to frighten away 

 the birds, which I felt sure were pre- 

 paring a nest there. Four or five 

 days later I visited the nest, and as I 

 was watching the hole at some dist- 

 ance, a Pileated Woodpecker put her 

 head out of the entrance and after 

 looking around withdrew it again. I 

 had found a second nest, and I de- 

 termined not to lose the nest this 

 time. 



Knowing the bird to be wild and 

 wary, I had used great care while 

 visiting the nest, and was probably not 

 seen by the Woodpeckers. I kept 

 away from the nest until May fourth, 

 when I decided that the set of eggs 



