NEST BOXES FOR WOODPECKERS.* 
BY FRANK C. PELLETT. 
An editorial in one of the well known magazines devoted to ornithology, 
several years ago, which suggested that it would probably be necessary 
to devise expensive machinery to bore out cavities in natural wood in 
imitation of those made by woodpeckers themselves, in order to attract 
these birds, first led me to attempt to supply their requirements. 
As far as I could learn woodpeckers had never been known to occupy 
such boxes in America up to that time. I did not learn of the successful 
boxes in Germany until after my own had been occupied and believed 
that I was working in an unexplored field. 
After giving the matter some study it became apparent that the reason 
that birds which supply no nesting material had not occupied boxes was 
because of the fact that the construction was such that there was nothing 
to supply the purpose of a nest. The fact that woodpeckers frequently 
make holes in the cornice of buildings or gate posts indicates that they 
would as readily occupy them if they could be made to serve the pur- 
pose. In boring out cavities in the natural wood the birds leave chips 
in the bottom on which to lay the eggs. During the season of 1909 a 
pair of redheaded woodpeckers appropriated the home of a pair of blue- 
birds in an old rabbit trap placed on a pole. They remained about for 
some time and the eagerness with which they took possession led me to 
think that all that would be necessary to meet their requirements would 
be the addition of some chips. Accordingly the following season several 
boxes were made of six and eight-inch lumber, varying in length from 
eighteen to twenty-four inches and placed in similar positions. The 
boxes were closed at both ends, a hole about the size the birds would 
require was made near one end and several inches of ground cork placed 
in the other. While the boxes were not round inside, the cavity was 
deep and conditions were approximately such as the birds would provide 
for themselves. A pair of flickers immediately took possession of one 
of these boxes but was dislodged by a pair of sparrow hawks. The little 
*See Bird Love — March, April, 1911. 
20 
