228 BIRDS * 



are five or six eggs, and occasionally seven, in each set, 

 which vary in form, though they are always of the ovate 

 type. At times they are quite elongated. When fresh, the 

 yolk may be seen through the thin shell, giving a pinkish 

 shade to the egg. When the contents are removed the shell 

 is white, showing some luster. 



The food of this species, in addition to the sap and inner 

 bark of the trees they puncture, if it is true that they use 

 this as food, consists of ants, insect larvse, moths, and butter- 

 flies, many of which are caught on the wing, and small 

 fruits. 



PILEATED WOODPECKER 



The range of this noble bird was formerly the whole 

 wooded region of North America. 



" If the * curse of beauty ' be added to that of large size, 

 the destruction of a bird is foredoomed. This magnificent 

 black woodpecker, once common throughout the heavily tim- 

 bered areas, has almost disappeared before the industrious 

 axe and the all-conquering gun, and the day of the passing 

 of the 'logcock,' or 'lumberjack,' is not far distant. 



" In the spring of 1902, according to Mr. Sim, of Jeffer- 

 son, Ohio, a pair of these birds nested within a mile of town. 

 The nesting cavity was dug by the middle of April, in a 

 beech tree, at a height of about thirty feet. Chips were 

 strewn liberally over the ground below, and many showed 

 characteristic chisel marks of the bird's powerful bill. Dur- 

 ing the nesting season the birds remained near, drumming, 

 calling, and feeding. The flight, unhke that of other wood- 

 peckers, is direct and not undulating. 



