BIRDS OF NEW YORK 139 



Soon after arrival from the south kingfishers pair and begin to excavate 

 a burrow in the bank of some stream, sandpit, gravel pit or stone quarry. 

 The opening is about 3 1/2 inches in diameter and is commonly placed well 

 up toward the top of the bank. From the opening the hole rises slightly 

 as it passes backward, and after penetrating the bank to a depth varying 

 from 4 to 8 feet the end is enlarged into a roomy chamber of oval .shape, 

 about 8 or 10 inches in diameter. Here the Kingfisher forms her nest of 

 fi-sh bones and scales ejected from her stomach. The eggs are usually 

 5 to 8 in number, similar to those of a domestic pigeon in size and shape, 

 averaging 1.34 by 1.05 inches. When the old Kingfisher has commenced 

 to incubate the eggs, she will usually defend them against intruders, as 

 many a small boy who has tried to unearth her treasures can testify from 

 the wounds which her daggerlike bill has inflicted. 



Order F»ICI 



Family PICIDA.E 



Woodpeckers 



Bill chisel-shaped; tongue very long and extensible, usually barbed" 

 at the tip and the base prolonged along the hyoid bone, 2 long rope- 

 like extensions of which reach upward and forward over the skull 

 to near the base of the bill; tail feathers stiff and 12 in number; tarsi 

 scutellate in front and reticulate on the sides and rear; toes scutellate on 

 top; their basal joints short; 2 anterior toes; 2 posterior toes; the claws 

 long, curved and sharp; scansorial in habit; flight undulating; voice 

 usually sharp and loud; food mostly boring insects, fruits and nuts; nest 

 excavated in trees; eggs pure white, rather broadly ovate; young bare 

 and helpless. 



New York woodpeckers are so clearly distinguishable from any birds 

 to which they are related that everyone knows this family, although in 

 other parts of the world they are more closely related to other picarian 

 families. It is safe to say that more people can distinguish woodpeckers 

 than the members of any other family unless it be the Owl. 



The following summary of the food of woodpeckers is collected from 

 Bulletin 37 of the Biological Survey, United States Department of 

 Agriculture. 



