THE IVOEY-BILLBD WOODPECKEE. 45 



yoiiiig bird in tlie nest was a female, and, though one-third grown, had not yet 

 opened its eyes. The feathers of the first plumage were apparent, beginning to 

 cover the down, and were the same in coloration as those of the adult female 

 bird."^ 



Recent observations all tend to show that the Ivory-billed Woodpecker is 

 an exceedingly wild and suspicious bird, and as the country becomes more 

 settled it retires from the advance of civilization to the more inaccessible swamps, 

 where it is not so liable to be molested. In such localities it appears to be still 

 reasonably common, as well as on some of the islands off the south Atlantic 

 and Gulf coasts. The present restriction of its range is probably due more 

 to its wild and suspicious nature than to actual decrease in numbers, as it has 

 but few enemies excepting- man, and is well able to protect itself against the 

 others. One of the most notable differences in the nesting habits of this hand- 

 some Woodpecker appears to be the fact that instead of making a romid entrance 

 hole, as do the smaller members of this family found in the United States, it 

 prefers one which is oval in shape. 



The eggs of the Ivory-billed AVoodpecker are pure chma white in color, 

 close grained, and exceedingly glossy, as if enameled. They vary in shape from 

 an elongate ovate to a cylindrical ovate, and are more pointed than the eggs 

 of most of our Woodpeckers. They appear to me to be readily distinguished 

 from those of the Pileated Woodpecker, some of which are fully as large. From 

 three to five eggs are laid to a set, and only one brood is raised in a season. As 

 both sexes among all the better-known species of Woodpeckers assist in incuba- 

 tion, it is probable that the same holds good with this species as well, and this 

 lasts probably from sixteen to eighteen days. 



The average measurement of thirteen eggs is 34.87 by 25.22 millimetres, 

 or about 1.37 by 0.99 inches. The largest egg measures 36.83 by 26.92 milli- 

 metres, or about 1.45 by 1.06 inches; the smallest, 34.54 by 23.62 millimetres, 

 or about 1.36 by 0.93 inches. 



The type, specimen, No. 26365 (not figured), from a set of three eggs, 

 Ralph collection, Avas taken in Lafayette County, Florida, April 19, 1893. 



As all Woodpeckers' eggs are pure white, and as many differ only very 

 slightly in size and shape, but considerably in the degree of glossiness, which 

 could not be accurately shown in the illustrations, I have only figured the eggs 

 of two well-known species, selecting those of the Pileated and Downy Wood- 

 peckers, which show fairly well the extremes in size.^ 



1 The Auk, Vol. V, 1888, p. 186. 



- 1 liad hoped to be able to add the large Imperial Woodpecker, CampepMlus imperialis, to our list 

 before this volume went to jiress. Lieut. Harry C. Benson, Fourth Cavalry, U. S. Army, found it to be com- 

 mon in the pine f irests of the Sierra Madre in northern Sonora, Mexico, in 1887, and shot a specimen withiu 

 50 miles of the boundary line; but up to date it has not been observed by either Dr. A. K. Fisher or Mr. W. 

 W. Price, who both collected in the Chiricahua Mountains during the summer of 1894, where it is most 

 likely to be found. 



