THE EED-BEEASTED SAPSUOKEE. 95 



groves of various extent, tlieir silvery trunks and light-green foliage blending 

 artistically with the somber green of the pines. These aspen groves are the 

 summer home of the Red-breasted Sapsucker. 



As far as my own observations go, healthy, smooth-barked aspens are 

 always selected as suitable nesting sites by these birds. The trees used vary 

 from 12 to 18 inches in diameter near the ground, and taper very gradually. 

 The cavity is usually excavated below the first limb of the tree, say from 15 to 

 25 feet from the ground. The entrance hole seems to be ridiculously small for 

 the size of the bird — perfectly circular, from 1^ to 1^ inches in diameter only — 

 so small, indeed, that it seems as if it took considerable effort for the bird to 

 squeeze himself in and wriggle out of the hole. 



The gourd-shaped excavation varies in depth from 6 to 10 inches, and it 

 is from 3 inches near the top to 4 or 5 inches wide at the bottom. The finer 

 chips are allowed to remain in the bottom, forming the nest proper, on which 

 the eggs are deposited. Frequently they are more than half covered by these 

 chips. The interior of the entire excavation is niost carefully smoothed off, 

 ■n'hich must consume considerable time, considering the tough, stringy, and 

 elastic nature of the wood when filled with sap, making it even more difficult to 

 work when partly decayed, which seems to be the case with nearly all aspens 

 of any size. Probably eight or ten days are consumed in excavating a satis- 

 factory nesting site. All the larger and coarser chips are di-opped out of the 

 hole and scattered about the base of the tree. From the quantity of these 

 found under every tree occupied by these birds during the nesting season of 

 1883, I am inclined to believe that they are only satisfied with an entirely 

 new nesting site every year, and not simply with an old one repaired to answer 

 the purpose. These same chips are an extremely simple and sure guide to their 

 nest. 



In hunting for them I looked for the chips on the ground first, and after 

 finding these it did not take long to find the hole from which they came. In 

 this manner it was an easy matter to find their nest, and I took no less than 

 fifteen sets of their eggs in a single season, and might have taken more had I 

 been so inclined, especially by following up the birds for their second set, where 

 they had been robbed previously. Ordinarily but one brood is raised in a 

 season. 



The number of eggs varies from five to six to a set. Full sets of fresh 

 eggs may be looked for in that locality from May 20 to June 5, and I have 

 taken nearly fresh eggs as late as June 13. I took my first set on May 23, 1883. 

 It contained six fresh eggs, and the cavity was about 7 inches deep, the entrance 

 about 8 inches below and directly under the first limb of the tree, as usual a 

 live aspen, about 18 feet from the ground. While the nest was being rifled of 

 its contents both parents flew about the upper limbs of the tree, uttering a 

 number of different sounding, plaintive cries, like 'peeye,' 'pinck,' and 'peurr,' 

 some of these resembling somewhat the purring of a cat when pleased and 

 rubbing against your leg. I used to note the different sounds in a small note- 



