CONSPICUOUSLY BLACK AND WHITE 373 



Nest : Hole excavated in the trunk of a large dead tree, from 20 to 75 



feet from the ground. 

 Eggs: 3 to 5 ; white. Size 1.40 X 0.99. 



Throughout the northern part of California in the 

 forests of the Sierra Nevada, the handsome Pileated 

 Woodpecker may be frequently heard, occasionally seen, , 

 but never watched unless you are going to live in his 

 haunts months at a time for the especial purpose of mak- 

 ing friends with him. But in the Yosemite Valley he is 

 the most conspicuous of all the birds, as well as one of 

 the least shy. With slight trouble you may find the 

 location of his nest in a tall live cedar fifty feet from the 

 ground, and watch the pair as they care for their young. 

 Here the mating season commences about the first of 

 May, incubation lasts eighteen days, and the young re- 

 main in the nest nearly six weeks. It is not uncommon 

 to find these nestlings still in the nursery the first week 

 in July in the Yosemite forests. The parents are very 

 devoted to their treasures whether they be eggs or in- 

 fant Woodpeckers, and the male rarely fails to stand on 

 guard on a high perch ready to warn and defend should 

 possible danger threaten. The method of feeding is like 

 that of the flickers, by regurgitation for the first two 

 weeks or longer. The adult comes with gular pouch 

 full of food and alights at one side of the nest hole to 

 rest a moment. Though he may have come noiselessly 

 and from the other side of the tree, yet his approach is 

 always heralded by a mowing-machine chorus from the 

 young, plainly heard some yards away. If old enough, 

 the queer-looking little heads are thrust out of the door- 



