Geophloeus pileatus . 
Breezy point, Warren, N.H. 
1094. Very warm with showers. Just after breakfast we (F.W. 
June 21. Batchelder, W. Faxon and. I) heard Pileated Woodpeckers calling 
a little way above the house and Faxon and I went in search 
of them. We found two birds, a male and female, in some large 
maple and birch trees in a hollow. They were very tame allow- 
ing us to approach to within 30 yards. The male was pecking 
rather listlessly at a dead prong, the female sat crosswise 
on a branch about seventy yards away. They called to each 
other at short, regular intervals using the short Flicker-like 
"shout". Neither bird changed its perch for full twenty min- 
utes. At length the female flew out into a pasture and a- 
lighted on a stump when she was joined by a third bird which 
we had not seen before. The male remained in the grove where 
we saw him first. We could not' make out whether these Wood- 
peckers were old or young. While perched in the trees they 
i 
kept moving their heads about and pointing their bills upward 
in a way that reminded us of Herons. Occasionally one of them 
would call cuck , cuck, cuck, etc. very slowly a great number 
/> 
of times. This call may be called a cackle. It is rather 
hen-like in character. 
