THE ATLANTIC SLOPE NATURALIST. 



27 



of briers and prickly ash and I knew 

 that I had found Geothlypis agilis 



beyond question. 



The nest was built entirely of the 

 stems and blades of some variety of 

 swamp grass. The base and outside 

 were of coarser stems, while the lining 

 was of the finer blades. 



The eggs were decidedly of a green- 

 ish tint in ground color and the mark- 

 ings run to much darker shades of 

 brown than those I have seen on the 

 eggs of the Mourning or Kenutcky 

 Warblers, while the largest size and 

 greenish ground entirely differentiate 

 them from the eggs of the Maryland 

 Yellow-throat. Of course, if we had 

 a series of sets of this bird the ground 

 color might be found to run more to 

 the creamy shade of the Mourning and 

 Kentucky Warblers. 



My set may not be typical, as we 

 would hardly look for the greenish 

 tint in this group of Warblers, though 

 the tint in Philadelphia and formosa 

 is so different from trie has and allies 

 that it is not impossible that agilis 

 would run too greenish. One egg in my 

 set is abnormal, almost immaculate 



greenish. 



♦ 



Breeding of the Pileated Woodpecker 

 in Southern New Jersey. 



By Mark L. C. Wilde, Camden, N. J. 



It may be of interest to the readers of 

 The Atlantic Slope Naturalist to 

 know that the Pileated Woodpecker has 

 been found breeding in New Jersey with- 

 in the last ten years. 



This noble bird is exceedingly rare 

 in the State referred to and has been 

 practically exterminated in this section of 

 the country. This may no doubt be at- 

 tributed to the cutting away of the forests. 



The bird prefers seclusion and is very 

 shy. When the young are hatched, 

 should the nesting site be approached 

 by man, the female will not desert her 

 offspring, but will fly about from tree to 

 tree " in fear and trembling," appearing 

 terribly worried and particularly nervous, 

 taking care not to come too near the 

 intruder. She will keep out of view as 

 much as possible, by hanging on to the 



opposite side of a tree trunk, uttering her 

 peculiar note continually, and frequently 

 peep around the tree to keep watch on 

 the intruder. 



It was on June 4th, 1893, while collect- 

 ing notes and recording data on the 

 breeding of the birds of Western Cape 

 May County that I established my first 

 breeding record of this bird in New Jersey. 



Mr. J. Harris Reed accompanied me 

 and just after crossing over the north- 

 western boundary line of the county above 

 referred to, into the extreme southeastern 

 part of Cumberland County, along the 

 West Creek, Mr. Reed went into the 

 woods to watch several hooded warblers, 

 while I walked on about a hundred yards 

 further into the swamp, and just got there 

 in time to see a large woodpecker with 

 food, fly into the woods. 



Hastening to the exact spot I observed 

 that my presence was very annoying to 

 her. Fearing lest I should not be able to 

 keep her in^view owing to the uncertainty 

 of my footing, I called to Mr. Reed who 

 came over at once to where I stood and 

 after getting a .good look at the bird 

 through field glasses, and seeing it was a 

 " Pileated," we hid ourselves as best we 

 could at different points in the swamp, 

 and after waiting a long time, w r e saw her 

 go to an oak tree and disappear through 

 a hole into the nesting cavity. 



We waited still. The male bird did not 

 appear at all. I shall never forget the 

 pleasure the mosquitoes had with us 

 while we were cramped up in our hiding 

 place. My poor neck was raised with 

 lumps for several days thereafter. 



Finally when the female bird had dis- 

 posed of what food she had and reap- 

 peared, we proceeded to investigate. The 

 nesting cavity contained five young birds 

 just about ready to fly and we left them 

 undisturbed expecting to return a day or 

 two later to more fully observe the habits 

 of the birds. 



This record has already appeared in 

 published form in Major Bendire's " Life 

 History of North American Birds" page 

 107 of the second volume, but is given 

 here in more accurate detail, for the bene- 

 fit of those students who do not happen 

 to be fortunate enough to possess a copy 

 of the valuable book above referred to. 



