2 2 THE PILEATED WOODPECKER NEAR BUFFALO 



Owing to the fact that our own state is one of the most 

 thickly settle! in the Union, the occurrence of this bird in our 

 immediate locality at the present time is very unusual. 



Mr. Savage reports having seen the bird several times in 

 the last few years. In April, 1907, Mr. Savage and Mr. E. P. 

 Van Duzee, while strolling through the woods of North Boston 

 about twenty miles south of Buffalo, discovered the trunk of a 

 beech tree about 40 feet high which bore the unmistakable evi- 

 dence of having been the object of attack of this bird. In 

 several places enormous hollows had been cut away extending 

 to the very heart of the tree and at the foot of the tree was 

 heaped a mound of chips which amounted to about two bushels 

 in volume. The hollows were on one side of the tree, the 

 lower one, the largest, about 6 inches wide extending about 

 three feet up and down the trunk. This penetrated quite to 

 the heart of the tree, which was dead and decayed throughout 

 a large part of its extent. Another about a foot by four inches 

 in size, and two smaller ones of a more circular shape were seen 

 just above, the whole extent of the excavation being in a sur- 

 face about six feet long. The wood of the tree is practically 

 honey-combed with the circular borings of the larvae of the 

 horn-tail (tremex columba) in search of which the bird had done 

 the excavating in question. 



Realizing the importance of this specimen as showing the 

 power of the bird as well as its occurrence in this locality, ar- 

 rangements were made by the Society of Natural Sciences to 

 secure this specimen and preserve it permanently in our Mu- 

 seum. The tree stood on the property of Mr. J. A. Hutchinson, 

 and through the efforts of Mr. Van Duzee it was cut down and 

 brought to our rooms where it can be seen in the department 

 of Ornithology. Mr. Savage secured a number of photographs, 

 one of which is reproduced with this article. 



Shortly after the discovery of the tree Mr. Savage reports 

 that the bird was seen and allowed him to approach sufficiently 

 near so that by the aid of his glass there was no doubt about 

 the identification of the bird. The mate was heard calling in 

 the woods a short distance away and was later seen and iden- 

 tified by Mr. Savage. Certain other excavations of a less ex- 

 tensive nature showed that they had been busy in the neighbor- 

 hood for sometime. 



