trunk in the forest where it resides hears 

 the marks of his chisel. Wherever it per- 

 ceives a tree beginning- to decay, it exam- 

 ines it round and round and with great 

 skill and dexterity strips off the bark in 

 sheets of five or six feet in length, to get 

 at the hidden cause of the disease, and 

 labors with a gayety and activity really 

 surprising. I have seen it separate the 

 greatest part of the bark from a large, 

 dead pine tree, for twenty or thirty feet, 

 in less than a quarter of an hour. 

 Whether engaged in flying from tree to 

 tree, in digging, climbing or barking, he 

 seems perpetually in a hurry." 



During the mating season it is exceed- 

 ingly noisy, not only spending much 

 time in drumming, but also frequently ut- 

 tering its love notes which to Mr. Nehrl- 

 ing sounds like "a-wuck, a-wuck." Mr. 

 Chapman describes their usual call note 

 as a ''sonorous cow-cow-cow, repeated 

 rather slowly many times," and when 

 two birds come together they utter a 

 "wichew note" similar to that of the 

 flicker. Its note of alarm has been lik- 

 ened to an oft-repeated ha-he, ha-he, ha- 

 he. The same observer hears in its call 

 note a constant repetition of a-wick, a- 

 wick and at times tack-tack-tack. 



For its nest the Pileated Woodpecker 

 excavates cavities in tree trunks at 

 heights varying frori twenty to eighty 

 feet above the ground. Both sexes assist 



in the work of making the cavity which, 

 Major Bendire states, vary from seven 

 to thirty inches in depth, and is gradual- 

 ly enlarged toward the bottom, where it 

 is about six inches wide." He also says 

 that it takes from seven to twelve days 

 to complete it and when completed it is 

 quite an artistic piece of work, the walls 

 of the cavity being cjuite smooth and the 

 edges of the entrance being nicely bev- 

 eled. The eggs are usually deposited on 

 a layer of chips. Not infrequently every 

 chip, as soon as it is loosened, is removed 

 to a distance in order to remove every 

 trace of the nesting site. 



Birds as well as other animals are af- 

 flicted with parasitic worms. Mr. Lang- 

 don found on dissecting a Pileated Wood- 

 pecker, a ''slender tape-worm about fif- 

 teen inches long and one-thirty-second of 

 an inch wide," and in the tissues beneath 

 the skin of the neck "were two thread- 

 like, round worms of a pale pinkish tint 

 and about three-fourths of an inch in 

 length." 



Of this wonderful bird we may truth- 

 fully say with Mr. Langille, "Whether 

 one notes his strong flight, his elastic 

 bounding and springing along the trunks 

 of the trees, the effective chiseling of his 

 powerful bill, or his sonorous cackling, 

 one is particularly impressed with the 

 spirit and immense energy of the bird." 



SABBATH BY THE LAKE. 



Peace smiles above the scene. The waters lie 



As still and blue as the arched sky they love. 



No sound salutes the ear, save that, far off, 



A bird recites to his fond mate his joy; 



And silence seems but deeper for the slender sound. 



The butterflies, that frolic noiselessly, 



Think Earth is Heaven and live by loving flowers. 



The trees in social groups, link branch to branch 



And root to root and smile beneath the sun. 



In harmony with all about I rest. 



Within my soul there dwells a thought that knows 



No words, but silent, sweet, it sings to me. 



Peace smiles above the scene, 'tis vSabbath day. 



Carrie B. Sanborn. 



149 



