EGGS: 



The complement of eggs varies from three to five. They are nearly elliptical in shape, pure white, 

 and quite glossy. They measure from .57 to .67 in short-diameter, and from .78 to .88 in long-diameter. 

 A set of three measures .58 x .85, .59 x .78, and .58 x .80. Another set of five measures .59 x .80, .61 x .86, 



61 x .85, .63 x .84, and .63 x .86. 



DIFFERENTIAL POINTS 



See Table. 



REMARKS : 



Plate LVI represents a sectional view of a nest and eggs of the Downy Woodpecker, taken June 

 1st, 1884. It was in a willow stump about five feet from the ground. 



It has been stated that the interior of the cavity is finished smoothly, and that the chips are carried 

 away from under the site. My observations do not confirm either of these statements. The walls of the 

 cavity are moderately smooth, but no more so than would be expected from the size of the chips which 

 the birds are able to cut away. Nor can I confirm the statement that the eggs rest upon the floor of 

 the nest, which is made very even for their reception. On the other hand, I have invariably found quite 

 a layer of chips protecting them from the hard wood beneath. 



The Sapsucker is a nervous, active bird, and is constantly occupied. During the time which the 

 female is sitting, the male often excavates one or more small cavities in some neighboring tree, with 

 no other object apparently than to be at work. He is very attentive to his partner the while, and 

 carries her choice morsels of food. When the young are hatched, he is equally solicitous with the mother, 

 and the pair seldom go far from home. 



When their premises are invaded they become very angry and excited, and scold in their rude way. The 

 young when two weeks old can fly, but they stay around the tree in which they were hatched for some 

 time after, going in and out of their houses at will. At this age they are very pretty, fat, and saucy. 

 Their plumage is lemon-yellow where their parent's is white; this makes them even handsomer than when 

 older, notwithstanding they have not the scarlet patch on their heads, so characteristic of all Woodpeckers. 

 AVhen Circe struck Picus, the hunter god of Latium, on the head with her wand, she changed him unto 

 a bird. The wound bled, and this blood stain still marks the spot of the blow on the heads of all his 

 adult descendants. 



The food of the Sapsucker consists chiefly of insects and their larvas, and hence these birds are of 

 inestimable value to the fruit-growers and our forests. On this account, if for no other, they deserve 

 every protection. The immense swarm of harmful insects which this species alone destroys in a single 

 year, is beyond our comprehension, so vast is the number. 



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