92 Contributions from the Charleston Museum. 



dead limb, and was about eighteen inches deep, being hollowed 

 out more on one side than the other. This woodpecker is so 

 attached to the tree in which it has first made its nest that it 

 continues to cling to it as long as it can find a suitable spot at 

 which to excavate a new hole. It never uses the same hole a 

 second time. I know of a pair of these birds which resorted 

 to the same tree for four consecutive years, and each year they 

 excavated a new hole. 



Another pair of these woodpeckers bred in a gigantic dead 

 pine for three years, and as an illustration that their large holes 

 are in great demand by other birds, and even mammals, for 

 breeding purposes, I will state that on April 16, 1903, there were 

 three species breeding in the same tree, namely — Pileated Wood- 

 pecker, four eggs, at a height of 54 feet; Fox Squirrel, at 70 feet; 

 and Sparrow Hawk, at approximately 90 feet from the ground — 

 all living together in perfect harmony ! 



If this bird is deprived of its first set of eggs, it at once exca- 

 vates a new hole, and the length of time consumed in its construc- 

 tion is about twenty-five days. A curious habit is that even 

 when it is incubating or brooding its young, this bird frequently 

 taps in its hole as if excavating. The eggs are glossy white and 

 measure 1.35X1.00. 



Although Dr. Bachman has stated in Audubon's Birds of Amer- 

 ■ica, 1 that this woodpecker lays from five to six eggs, the highest 

 number I have ever found is four. During incubation one bird 

 relieves the other at certain hours of the day, and if the one in- 

 cubating wishes to leave, it will utter its call notes while in the 

 hole, until the other comes to relieve it. 



165. Melanerpes erythrocephalus (Linn.). Red-headed Wood- 

 pecker. 



The controlling influence upon the migration of this species 

 in winter is the presence or absence of acorns of the live and water 

 oaks. If the crop of acorns is large, this woodpecker is abun- 

 dant during the winter months, but if there are no acorns, the bird 

 is entirely absent, no matter whether the season is mild or severe. 



The Red-headed Woodpecker feeds upon fruit as well as insects 

 and worms. When mulberries and cherries are ripe it feeds 

 exclusively upon them and also carries them to its young. 



■IV, 227-228. 



