Nesting of the Yellow-bellied Sap- 
sucker. 
This handsome Woodpecker is of common 
occurrence throughout temperate North 
America, east of the plains, where it is re- 
placed by its varieties, the Red-breasted ( Spliy - 
rapicus varius ruber) and Red-naped Wood- 
peckers ( Sphyrapicus varius nu.chalis). It, 
however, prefers its northern range in which 
to breed, and in favored localities it is one of 
the characteristic summer birds. 
This species (Sphyrapicus varius) was very 
abundant during the migrations at Minneapo- 
lis, Minn., but very few remained to breed, 
owing no doubt to the small timber in the 
vicinity. Lake Minnetonka, fifteen miles from 
Minneapolis, however, is situated in what is 
known as the “big woods,” and this has 
always been a favorite resort for the Yellow- 
bellied Sapsucker. It was my good fortune 
to spend the summer of 18S8 at this beau- 
tiful lake, and excellent opportunities were 
offered to observe their nesting habits. 
By May 15th the woods were teeming with 
bird life, as it was the height of their migra- 
tions. Gay little Warblers were by far the 
most numerous, and such rare species as Ten- 
nessee (Ilelmiathophu g a peregrina), Cape May 
( Perissoglossa tigrina), Bay -breasted (Dendro- 
ica castanea) were abundant. Even the Even- 
ing Grosbeaks ( Hesperiphona vespertina) had 
not left yet, and their noisy notes could be 
heard in many directions. The Yellow-bellied 
Sapsuckers were constantly in sight, at times 
sitting on tire top branches of the tallest trees 
ready to snap tip the first insect that showed 
itself. They are expert flycatchers and live 
in a great measure on them. Others were 
seen flying from tree to tree in their peculiar 
undulating flight. They are a very odd bird 
and will bear any amount of watching. Their 
actions at times are most comical. They have 
a habit of lighting on the trunk of a tree, and 
remaining in the same stupid position for a 
quarter of an hour or more at a time as if in 
deep meditation. At such times they will suf- 
fer themselves to be closely approached, and 
then they seem to wake up and appear greatly 
startled. Then they immediately dart around 
on the opposite side of the tree, and as you 
walk around it they will endeavor to keep the 
tree between you and themselves, at the same 
time creeping to the top branches, where they 
will sometimes lie flat on a limb like a squirrel 
and in that position they are not readily 
observed. 
At this point the birds were mated and were 
always together. On May 16th I found a pair 
busily engaged in excavating a hole in a dead 
bass wood stump about thirty feet high. They 
had commenced to dig at a point about two 
June 1890. j 
AND OOLOGrIST. 
91 
feet from the top of the stump, and at about 
the same distance still further down were two 
more old holes, probably last year’s nesting 
sites. They had evidently finished work on 
the first hole, and the next day they immedi- 
ately began to dig another hole about a foot 
below the first one. This they completed in 
two days as the wood was very soft. 
I visited the place several times daily, and 
sometimes I found the birds in one hole and 
sometimes in the other — the male as often as 
the female. Things were getting rather 
mixed, and to add to my consternation I dis- 
covered a new hole being excavated on the 
opposite side of the stump. In this case I 
always observed it was only the male that was 
at work, but I could not tell in what hole the 
female was laying. I thought, however, 
it was in the lower one, so on May 20tli I 
opened it only to find it empty. I now felt 
satisfied that the nest was in the upper one, 
and two days afterwards (the22d) I tore open 
this nest and as I reached down I felt eggs. 
What a delightful sensation there is about it! 
I brought them out one at a time until I 
I old a nice set of five. I reached in again for 
luck and under the soft chips I found another 
— six. In I went again, one more — seven. 
This was all, for I removed the chips until 
they would not cover a Hummingbird’s egg. 
They were perfectly fresh as I could see the 
yellow yolk through the glossy shell. 
In considering the matter I found that in 
order to lay one egg each day they must have 
begun on the 16th, the day they finished dig- 
ging, unless they laid more than one a day. 
Both the Florida Gallinule and the Sora Rail 
lay more than one egg a day to my certain 
knowledge, but whether the Woodpecker did 
or not I am of course unable to say. 
Just as I started up the stump, the male bird, 
who was on the eggs, flew to a neighboring 
tree and set up a plaintive cry like Ki-i Ki-i 
shrill and drawn out. When I came down the 
birds flew immediately to the ragged hole 
where their nest was, and first one bird 
would take a peep in a dazed sort of way, then 
the other; finally the male mustered up 
courage enough to venture inside, but soon 
came out, and after a short consultation both 
flew off. 
It was a matter of wonder to me how the 
birds could enter a hole so small as they did. 
The entrance to this nest was by measurement 
but an inch and three-eighths in diameter, and 
to my eye perfectly circular. It went straight 
in for a distance of about two inches and then 
0|&0s XV, Jnne, lseo, p_. 90 „ ^ 
turned abruptly down and gradually assumed a 
pear shaped form, wide and spacious at the 
bottom with a floor of soft chips. 
In the meantime I had located another pair 
building in an iron wood stump. I profited by 
my first experience and traced the nesting- 
tree by the chips scattered about. The stump 
was about fifteen feet high, and leaned at an 
angle of about forty-five degrees. The nest 
was within a foot of the top and on the 
underside. 
On May 28tli I opened this nest. I first cut 
a suitable tree with a good crotch at the end, 
and this I placed firmly against a tree and 
ascended without difficulty. But to open the 
nest was quite another thing for the wood was 
dense and solid and thoroughly seasoned. My 
dull hatchet would hardly make a mark on it, 
and what was worse, every time I struck the 
stump it would shake and vibrate so that 
there was danger of the eggs being broken. 
I finally succeeded in reaching the eggs by 
“chewing” off the top of the stub by keep- 
ing doggedly at it with the old relic that had 
served as a wire cutter and coal chisel among 
other things. 
The nest contained a set of five slightly 
incubated eggs, and whole much to my surprise, 
as when I was making the opening a great 
many large chips fell in. 
My next was found June 3d, at a height of 
about fifty feet in the dead top of a large 
Maple. This nest was also discovered by the 
presence of chips from the nest. It contained 
five fresh eggs. 
On June 23d, 'as I chanced to pass the stub I 
had secured my set of seven from I saw a 
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker fly from the same 
hole that the previous set had been found in. 
Upon an examination I found another set of 
four incubated eggs, and what is more I found 
a small runt egg in the hole on the opposite 
side of the tree. The runt egg was about the 
size of a Phoebe’s and contained no yolk. 
The birds seem to prefer the society of man 
rather than the seclusion of the woods, as 
all the nests found were within a hundred yards 
of a large hotel, where trains and steamboats 
were moving about. 
The eggs are very small for the size of the 
bird, barely exceeding in size those of the 
Hairy Woodpecker, but are quite different in 
shape, being more of a true ovate, and con- 
trary to previously published accounts, those 
eggs collected by myself are very glossy. 
I must not forget to mention a peculiar 
. trait t|ie birds have of lighting on te legraph 
poles and pounding on the wire as it passes ' 
over the glass insulation. The result is a ldfrd 
singing sound that can be heard a long dis- 
tance. While the wire is vibrating they will 
stretch out their necks or cock their heads to 
one side as if enjoying the sound hugely. 
