72 



THE OOLOGIST 



tree eight or nine feet through and 

 forty feet from the ground to the first 

 limb. At that time I was an ardent 

 egg collector and I coveted those 

 white beauties very much. But the 

 proposition was too much for me. I 

 could only wish them well and go on 

 my way. 



In November last, while hunting on 

 the Verdigris River, Oklahoma, I 

 found that I was amongst these great 

 Picidae once more. In the Big Lake 

 region five miles from Claremore sev- 

 eral were seen. One day while wad- 

 ing around in the river collecting 

 unios, or Fresh Water Clams, my son 

 on shore shot a fine female from which 

 I made a nice skin. On the lake I 

 also secured a Sabine Gull in fine plu- 

 mage. The other Woodpeckers that 

 I found here were the Red-headed, 

 Red-bellied, Yellow-bellied, Flicker, 

 Hairy and Downy. 



At present in Illinois, I find the 

 Downy, Hairy, Red-bellied and a few 

 stay-ever Flickers and Red-heads. 



Dr. W. S. Strode, 



Lewiston. 111. 



Nesting of the Pileated Woodpecker. 



This past spring, I spent consider- 

 able tiixie looking for the nest of Pile- 

 ated in the same region where I took 

 the set in 1909. 



I found it about the middle of April 

 by detecting the female at work. It 

 was in the swamp this time, fifty feet 

 up in the dead top of a big poplar and 

 about a half mile from last year's 

 nest. 



As I took the 1909 set on May 16th, 

 I thought May 14th about the right 

 time so on that date I went, and to 

 my disgust I found both old birds feed- 

 ing young. Several days previous I 

 had visited the place and found all 

 quiet so I imagine that they had only 

 been hatched a day or two. The old 



birds were very much alarmed and 

 flew all about us constantly cackling. 



If I am fortunate enough to find the 

 nest next year I will be on hand May 

 1st. 



The Yellow-bellied Woodpecker is 

 also a summer resident here. They 

 are not very common as a breeder and 

 are only found back in the mountains 

 in slashings and cut-over regions 

 where there are numbers of large old 

 stubs standing about. They nest ia 

 these old stubs and it is a risky job 

 trying to reach a nest owing to the rot- 

 ten and treacherous condition of the 

 old stubs. 



The Flicker is abundant and nests 

 anywhere from ten to eighty feet 

 from the ground. 



Both the Hairy and Downy are regu- 

 lar breeders. 



Have never taken but one Red-bel- 

 lied Woodpecker here and that was 

 some time ago in late December. 



R. B. Simpson, 



Warren, Pa. 

 »-*— 



Has the Flicker a Deficient Sense of 

 Hearing? 



Assuredly, the Flicker is fond of 

 ants of all kinds, ground ants in par- 

 ticular, and when feeding upon the lat- 

 ter fornicaceous insects, it will permit 

 a trespasser to approach quite close, 

 sometimes jumping up almost under 

 his feet with a Woodcock-like whirr, 

 and make straight off to the nearest 

 tree or other shelter. 



Whether the bird loses its accus- 

 tomed wariness while feeding on an 

 ant diet in grass and weedy fields, in 

 which it is concealed and hidden by 

 the foliage, for its fondness of them, 

 or it has a deficient sense of hearing 

 Avhile upon the ground, which prevents 

 it hearing the footsteps of the tres- 

 passer, it is not for me to say. 



Certainly, the birds seem entirely 

 oblivious to the presence of the ap- 



