326 LAND-BIKDS. 



ally, if closely approached, he ceases his labors and flies away. 

 Indeed, he is so suspicious as sometimes to be startled by the 

 sound -of distant footsteps, and even to desert an unfinished 

 nest if discovered. Moreover, he is fastidious, and often, dis- 

 pleased with the result of his first efforts, begins again in an- 

 other place or a different tree. It is nearly or quite as common 

 to find the uncompleted excavations of this species and the 

 Downy Woodpecker, as to find their finished nests. I have 

 seen a tree with eight of the latter and three of the former. 

 Immediately or soon after the middle of May (near Boston), 

 six eggs are generally laid, sometimes at irregular intervals. 

 A dozen eggs or more, however, have been found in the same 

 nest, but these had probably been laid by two or more females. 

 The female, if robbed of her eggs, sometimes continues to lay, 

 or, after deepening the hole, lays another set. Even this is 

 often taken by boys, to whom few birds are more familiar 

 than these. The young at an early age scramble out to the 

 fresh air, and about their native tree, until old enough to fly. 



The Pigeon Woodpeckers, as they are often called, fre- 

 quent woods, orchards, pastures, fields, roadsides, and nearly 

 all our trees, except the evergreens, for which they show no 

 fondness. They may often be seen upon the ground, actively 

 engaged in the destruction of ants (which chiefly constitute 

 their diet), or hopping over our lawns in search of other in- 

 sects. Sometimes, fluttering before a vine, they seize its ber- 

 ries ; sometimes they visit gardens not only for grubs but for 

 grain ; and sometimes, like true Woodpeckers, they hop about 

 trees in the search of insects, or of their larvae and eggs. 

 They usually perch crosswise, as our other Woodpeckers rarely 

 do. They fly with ease, and often rapidity, moving through 

 the air at a moderate height in gentle undulations, with an in- 

 termittent beating of the wings. They are naturally shy, and, 

 though found in man's society, rather avoid his near approach. 

 They are also affectionate, merry, and even noisy. Buffon 

 supposed them to lead a dull, toilsome, and wearisome life, — 

 an idea which both Wilson and Audubon have indignantly 

 refuted. 



d. The three principal notes of the Pigeon Woodpeckers 



