THE DOWNY WOODPECKER. 57 



ivorous birds, such as Chickadees, Nuthatches, and others, especially in winter. 

 It is not as noisy a bird as the majority of Woodpeckers, and utters but few 

 notes, excepting during the mating season when two or three males are in pur- 

 suit of a female. While searching for food it utters occasionally a low "pshii-, 

 pshir." One of its common call notes sounds like "pwit, pwit," terminating 

 with "tehee, tehee, tehee," rapidly repeated. Another note, uttered when a pair 

 are chasing one another, reminds me somewhat of the "kick-kick" of the Flicker, 

 but is not uttered quite as loudly. In the early spring the male frequently 

 amuses himself by persistently drumming on some resonant dry limb, often for 

 fifteen minutes at a time, to attract the attention of his mate, or as a challenge 

 to some rival, but later in the season this is less frequently heard. It is exceed- 

 ingly graceful in all its movements on a tree trunk, moving up or down as well 

 as sidewif e with equal facility, and I have seen it hanging perfectly motionless 

 for minutes at a time in the same position, apparently as if in deep thought. 

 While at Holland Patent, New York, during the summer of 1893, I had excel- 

 lent opportunities to watch these interesting birds ; a pair had raised a brood in 

 a dead limb of a maple tree in the public square of the village, and one or more 

 could be seen about at almost any hour of the day, and I have more than once 

 walked up to within 3 feet of one. As they had never been molested, they were 

 tame, and allowed themselves to be closely approached. The young of the 

 year were, apparently, much more suspicious than the old birds. 



In the more southern portions of its range, as in Florida, nidification 

 usually begins about the middle of April; in New England and along our 

 northern border, from four to five weeks later, and in Alaska rarely before 

 June 1. Apple, pear, cheny, oak, maple, poplar, alder, American linden or 

 basswood, ash, willow, and magnolia trees appear to furnish its favorite 

 nesting sites, and it prefers to dig out a home in some dead limb, or in the dead 

 top of the trunk, but it also nests in live trees, usually selecting those in which 

 the core shows signs of decay. In Florida slender dead saplings are preferred. 

 The entrance hole is just about large enough to admit the body of the bird 

 with somewhat of an effort, perfectly circular, measuring about IJ inches in 

 diameter. The inner cavity is gradually enlarged toward the bottom, where 

 it is about 3 inches wide, and the sides are chipped smooth; the hole is 

 usually from 6 to 9 inches in depth, and the bottom is covered with a layer of 

 fine chips on which the eggs are deposited. Both sexes assist in this work, and 

 it takes about a Aveek to complete a suitable excavation. After it is finished the 

 male frequently digs out a somewhat shallower one for himself in the same 

 tree, or in another close by. A new site is usually selected each season in the 

 vicinity of the old one, but occasionally this is cleaned out, deepened a little, 

 aiad used for several years in succession. Each pair of birds lay claim to a 

 certain range, and intruders on this are driven away. 



The Downy Woodpecker, although small in size, does not lack for courage. 

 Mr. J. W. Preston writes me: " On May 15, 1891, a female Downy was attracted 

 from her nest in a decaying branch of a weeping willow near our house by a 

 Red-headed Woodpecker, Avhich was tapping- on the tree trunk. It at once 



