48 LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



rather small, flat, and terminates in a sharp, horny point, which is armed 

 at the sides with a series of bristle-like barbed hooks; the worm-like neck, or 

 the hyoid process to which it is attached, is generally rather long and curves 

 around the back of the skull in a sheath, and this can readily be thrown 

 forward for 2 or 3 inches. A stickj^ saliva is also secreted, with which the 

 tongue is covered to facilitate the extraction of the food they are in search of. 

 Then sense of hearing must be exceedingly acute, as they appear to readily 

 detect the slightest movement of any insect under the bark or in the solid 

 wood, and they make no mistakes in properly locating it. Their flight is rapid, 

 undulating, usually not very protracted, and they rarely descend to the ground 

 in search of food, where their movements are rather awkward and clumsy. 

 Notwithstanding the amount of labor required for the Hairy and other Wood- 

 peckers to obtain the necessary amount of nourishment, they are usually in 

 good condition, and in winter not unfrequently excessively fat. 



Our Hairy Woodpecker is one of the earliest of this family to breed. The 

 mating season begins in the latter part of March, and the species is at this time 

 one of the noisiest members of this family. The male, when not in search of 

 food, now seems to occupy himself almost exclusively with drumming on a 

 resonant dead limb, generally situated near the top of some tall tree. The louder 

 the noise produced, the more satisfactory it appears to be to the performer; it 

 seems to be a sort of love note and call to the female, and, as far as I have been 

 able to observe, is only indulged in by the male. In flying' from one tree to 

 another a shrill, sharp "huip, huip" is often uttered, and during the mating season 

 both sexes are very demonstrative and utter quite a number of different notes. 

 I believe this species remains paired through life. Nidification begins usually 

 early in April, and it requires about a week to jjrepare the nesting site. Both 

 sexes take part in this labor, and it is really wonderful how neat and smooth an 

 excavation these birds can make with their chisel-shaped bills in a comparatively 

 short time. The entrance hole is as round as if made with an auger, about 2 

 inches in diameter, and just large enough to admit the body of the bird; the 

 edges are nicely beveled, the inside is equally smooth, and the cavity is gradually 

 enlarged toward the bottom. The entrance hole, which is not unfrequently 

 placed under a limb for protection from the weather, generally runs in straight 

 through the solid wood for about 3 inches, and then downward from 10 to 18 

 inches, and some of the finer chips are allowed to remain on the bottom of the 

 cavity in which the eggs are deposited. Both dead and living trees are selected 

 for nesting sites, generally the former. When living trees are chosen, the inner 

 core or heart of the tree is usually more or less decayed. These nesting sites 

 are nearly always selected with such good judgment that such obstacles as hard 

 knots are rarely encountered; should this occur, the site is abandoned and a fresh 

 one selected. After this is completed the male frequently excavates another 

 hole, or even several, in the same tree or in another close by, in which to pass 

 the night or to seek shelter, and to be close to the nest while the female is 

 incubating; these holes are not so deep as the others. A fresh nesting site is 



