748 The Golden- Winged Woodpecker. [ December, 
by some branches which were just leaving out. The hole was 
situated near the top of a tall stump of sugar maple, the upper 
part of which had been carried away by some wind-storm. 
I laid down upon my back on the ground, in order to com- 
_mand a better view of the hole, and for fifteen minutes I neither 
saw nor heard anything. I suppose the bird had heard some 
sound. Patiently waiting during this time, I at last discerned 
the side of his bill near the lower edge of the hole. Then he 
raised his head a little, so that his side and bill were visible, and 
watched with this eye for nine minutes by my watch, remain- 
ing motionless during the whole time. At the end of this in- 
terval he dropped to the bottom of his hole and a minute later 
his head appeared; glancing warily around, he thrust it out 
and I saw he had a bill-full of chips; these were protruding on 
both sides from between his mandibles. With a flirting motion 
of his head, he scattered the chiplets in the air, and gazing 
around for a moment he disappeared in his hole. 
This operation he repeated several times, always reconnol- 
tring the vicinity before and after disposing of the chips brought 
up. A couple of boys passing just as he had thrown out a load 
of chips, he dropped to the bottom of his nest in haste, and not a 
sound was emitted for another fifteen minutes, when a part of his 
bill was again visible as he came up to see whether or not the 
enemy had withdrawn. Five minutes later he put his head out of 
the hole, glancing quickly in every direction. This series of ob- 
servations lasted for five minutes, when he disappeared, and in an 
instant reappearing he emerged from the hole and perched upon 
a limb about a foot from it. Here he stood for five minutes 
more, though it appeared to be much longer, and then flew to a 
high tree about fifty yards distant, where he rested for a mo- 
ment, and then vanished among the trees. The female was not 
seen upon this occasion. On May 27th the female was found 
incubating, and the male was seen upon a tree some distance © 
away, apparently cheering her by an affectionate call. 
On referring to my note-book, I find the following under date 
of May 27th: — Da 
“ A little over two weeks ago, my attention was attracted by 
the appearance of a second pair of these beautiful woodpeckers — : 
upon the trees in the Armory grounds. They were very shy, _ : 
but were evidently pairing. The female would fly from tree to 
tree, where the male would follow her, uttering a peculiarly low, i a 
cooing, assuring cry. This note, or rather succession of notes, 15 
