138 



THE OOLOGIST 



THE HAIRY WOODPECKER 

 Some Questions on the Hairy Wood- 

 pecker 



Does the Hairy Woodpecker enlarge 

 its hole just before the eggs are ready 

 to hatch? 



April 3th I found a Hairy digging in 

 a dead oak tree six feet from ground. 

 A rap on the tree made the Hairy 

 stick its head out, but it would not 

 come out of hole for some time. Think- 

 ing that it was just a new hole I left 

 it until May 5th, when on opening the 

 hole with a saw found four young 

 birds, and the egg shells. 



By the size of the young birds it 

 goes to prove that they were not 

 hatched the first time I visited the 

 tree. So, do all the Hairys enlarge 

 their nesting sites before the eggs are 

 hatched or was this an exception? 



Does the Hairy Woodpecker, when 

 you approach its nesting site, leave 

 before you get there or does it stick 

 tight in the hole? 



April 28th I found a Hairy hole in a 

 black cherry tree eleven feet from the 

 ground. By use of a small limb 1 

 tried to feel if there were any eggs in 

 the hole but I thought I couldn't feel 

 anything. Either the limb wasn't 

 touching the bottom or one of the 

 birds were on because on May 5th 

 there were four young in the nest. 



About ten minutes later I saw a 

 Hairy in the cherry tree but thinking 

 that it was going to work on the hole, 

 I left the territory. 



Was this bird the one that I flushed 

 or was it a mate to the bird which may 

 have been in the hole? 



May 5th I opened this hole and 

 found one of the old birds sitting on 

 four young which did not look over a 

 day old. The egg shells were also in 

 this nest. 



The old bird would not leave the 

 nest until I lifted it out with the point 

 of my saw. 



In both cases I nailed the pieces of 

 wood back that I had sawed out. 



If any one has made observations on 

 the Hairy Woodpecker, let us hear 

 from you through "The Oologist." 



Martin C. Patilson, 



Nevada, Iowa. 



BOOKS RECEIVED 



Birds and Mammals of the Stirkene 

 Region of Northern British Columbia 

 and Southeastern Alaska, by H. S. 

 Swarth. 



This splendid paper is pp. 125-314 of 

 The University of California. Publi- 

 cation in Zoology, Vol. XXIV, No. 2 

 and is a splendid contribution to the 

 little known Zoology of this region. 



Ornithologists and Oologists will be 

 specially interested in knowing that it 

 describes the sixth known nesting 

 place in North America of the Bo- 

 hemian Waxwing, of which five or six 

 nests were discovered, studied, photo- 

 graphed, and some collected. Approxi- 

 mately all the nests found were in 

 comparatively isolated groups of 

 smaller carnivorous trees and were 

 saddled on branches close to the trunk. 



Another thing of interest is dis- 

 closed in the fact that Eastern forms 

 of A. O. U. Nos. 316-360-402-420-517-542- 

 614 and 652 were found inhabiting 

 this region. 



However, one thing is to be regretted 

 in that this paper discloses an effort 

 to foist a long suffering bird fraternity, 

 additional localized races or sub- 

 species of birds. 



R. M. Barnes. 



