344 . IVORY-BILLED WOODPECKER. 



height. The birds pay great regard to the particular situation of the. 



1 tree, and the indination of its trunk ; first, because they prefer retire- 



\ ment, and again, because they are anxious to secure the aperture against 



I the access of water during beating rains. To prevent such a calamity, 



the hole is generally dug immediately under the junction of a large branch 



with the trunk. It is first bored horizontally for a few inches, then di- 



■ rectly downwards, and not in a spiral manner, as some people have ima^ 



■ gined. According to circumstances, this cavity is more or less deep, be- 

 ing sometimes not more than ten inches, whilst at other times it reaches 



I nearly three feet downwards into the core of the tree. I have been led 

 I to think that these differences result from the more or less immediate ne- 

 f cessity under which the female may be of depositing her eggs, and again 

 have thought that the older the Woodpecker is, the deeper does it make 

 its hole. The average diameter of the different nests which I have exa- 

 mined was about seven inches within, although the entrance, which is 

 perfectly round, is only just large enough to admit the bird. 



Both birds work most assiduously at this excavation, one waiting out- 

 side to encourage the other, whilst it is engaged in digging, and when 

 the latter is fatigued, taking its place. I have approached trees whilst 

 these Woodpeckers were thus busily employed in forming their nest, and 

 by resting my head against the bark, could easily distinguish every blow 

 given by the bird. I observed that in two instances, when the Wood- 

 peckers saw me thus at the foot of the tree in which they were digging 

 _ their nest, they abandoned it for ever. For the first brood there are ge- 



the hole, and are of'a"purrw1i1?e'''^o1our ^ ^^^ ""^'"^^ ""^ *^^ ^""°™ ""^ 

 "U. of *e hole abou. a fort„igh. before '^'^^^^^^'^y::',:;^^ 

 tree The second brood ,„akes f.sappearanco about the IS.h of Augu.t 

 In Kentucky and Indiana, the Ivory-bills seldon, raise n,ore than one 



only that they wan, the crest, which, however, grows rapidly, and to- 

 wards au.u,nn, particularly i„ birds of the firs, breed, is nearly equal to 

 that of the mother. The males have then a slight line of r«l on the 

 head, and do not attain their richness of plumage until spring, or their 

 full s,ze unt,l the second year. Indeed, even then, a difeence is easily 

 observed between them and individuals which arc uu,ch older. 



ihe food of this species consists principally of beetles, larvae, and 

 large grubs.^ No sooner, however, are the grapes of „„r f„re;ts ripe , hi 



