352 THE NORTHERN PILEATED WOODPECKER. 



states that the Pileated Woodpecker is almost always to be found in the vicin- 

 ity of Jefferson. An extensive area of primeval forest, near at hand, has 

 afforded it asylum for many years past, but the tract is even now being 

 reduced by lumbering interests; and the day of the passing* of the Logcock 

 is not far distant. 



In the spring of 1902, according to Mr. Sim, a pair of these birds nested 

 within a mile of town. The nesting cavity was dug in a beech tree, at a 

 height of about thirty feet, and within two feet of the broken-off top, and the 

 work was completed by the middle of April. Chips were strewn liberally 

 over the ground below, and many showed the characteristic chisel marks 

 of the bird's powerful bill. During the nesting season the parent birds re- 

 mained pretty closely in the neighborhood of the home tree, drumming, call- 

 ing, and searching for food. 



"The drumming song is a series of about twelve taps, increasing in 

 rapidity and growing less in strength to the end. It may be heard for a long 

 distance. I have heard this Woodpecker give three vocal songs or calls. 

 One is an exultant, ringing laugh given in high clear soprano. The first note and 

 the last are lower and less loud than the rest. At a distance this call sounds 

 metallic; but when at close range it is sent echoing through the forest, it is 

 full and clear, and is the most untamably wild sound that I know among bird- 

 notes. Another call might be suggested by the syllables cow-cozv-cozv 

 repeated indefinitely, but some times intermittently. When two birds 

 approach each other they often carry on a wheedling conversation which is 

 not unpleasant to hear. It seems to be analogous to the wicheiv note of the 

 Flicker, but is given more slowly and has a peculiar quality which would lead 

 one to believe that the birds have their bills closed while making the sound." 



In its search for food the Logcock strikes deliberately but with force, 

 often giving the head a powerful twist to wrench off a piece of wood. Some- 

 times quite a large fragment is thrown back by a toss of the head. Much 

 time is also spent about fallen tree-trunks, where in addition to grubs and 

 other insect larvse, it subsists largely upon ants. 



