THE OOLOGIST 



71 



nest, we inserted a key-hole saw in tlie 

 entrance and sawed out a plug about 

 four inches in diameter which enabled 

 us to see whether the set was com- 

 plete. If not complete, we inserted 

 the plug again, fastened it with a nail, 

 filled up the saw-line with bark, so as 

 to exclude the light, and left the nest 

 for future reference. The birds never 

 failed to fill out the complement for 

 us. Indeed, I made up my mind that 

 if the eggs were not taken the birds 

 could not be driven away. So, while, 

 on one of my camping trips, at an alti- 

 tude of about ten thousand feet, we 

 discovered the hole of a Red-naped, 

 about twenty feet up in a large dead 

 aspen stub, where the place to work 

 was not most comfortable, and as it 

 was also quite late, June 23, and I 

 rather expected a full set, I directed 

 my guide not to saw out the plug, but 

 to chop out the hole with his hatchet, 

 so he could insert his hand. He did 

 so, and discovered there were only 

 two eggs. I decided to leave these, 

 as we were breaking camp the next 

 day, and would come by this place 

 and we could stop and take the three 

 eggs. The guide came down the tree 

 about ten feet, and proceeded to cut 

 out a Western House Wren. Soon 

 one of the Red-naped Sapsuckers, both 

 of which remained in sight, flew to 

 the tree, perched a moment upon the 

 edge of the cut hole, then went in, and 

 shortly reappeared with one of the 

 eggs in its beak. It flew to a nearby 

 stub, not more than forty feet from 

 where I was sitting, calmly devoured 

 the egg and dropped the empty shell. 

 This was my first experience in wit- 

 nessing a wild bird eat its own eggs. 



The full complement of eggs is from 

 three to five, usually four, and they 

 are indistinguishable from the eggs of 

 the Williamson's Sapsucker. 



404. Sphyrapicus thyroideus. Wil- 

 liamson's Sapsucker. — I found this spe- 

 cies not uncommon in thinly wooded 

 spots on the moraines and on the 

 mountain sides. The eggs were de- 

 posited in holes in trees on a few chips 

 in bottom of the holes. The holes are 

 not usually excavated by the birds, as 

 all we found nesting were in old holes 

 in dead trees or the dead parts of liv- 

 ing trees. I found four nests contain- 

 ing eggs, two of five, and two of four 

 each, and several nests containing 

 young. The nesting sites were from 

 ten to twenty-eight feet from the 

 ground, and incubation was carried on 

 about equally" by male and female. 

 There is a marked difference in color- 

 ation of male and female of this spe- 

 cies, the male being a beautiful bird 

 with clearly defined markings of black, 

 red and yellow, while the female is 

 almost uniform dull brown and white, 

 although in hand she shows a slight 

 tinge of yellow on the breast. 



They were breeding at an altitude 

 of from eight to nine thousand feet. 

 I saw no nests above nine thousand 

 feet. The eggs are glossy white not 

 distinguishable from the eggs of the 

 Red-naped Sapsucker. 



John H. Flanagan. 



The Pileated Woodpecker. 



In early days of Illinois this great 

 Woodpecker was not uncommon wher- 

 ever there was big timber. As the 

 timber was destroyed they dissappear- 

 ed. In the California Bend of Spoon 

 River, and around Thompson's Lake, 

 near the Illinois, a few remained until 

 about ten years ago. Since then I have 

 heard of none. 



About twenty-five years ago, a pair 

 of them nested in an immense Syca- 

 more tree near Bernadotte, Illinois. 

 The nest was in a cavity, probably 

 ninety feet from the ground. The 



