HAIRY WOODPECKER. 
241 
are hatched in more boreal climes. I do not mean to say that Florida Woodpeckers have 
absolutely no energy, for energy is as much one of the characteristics of a Woodpecker as 
is his wedge-shaped bill or acuminate tail, but only, that they do not exhibit this quality 
to such an extensive degree as do their northern brethren. This lack of enterprise in 
Southern Hairys is also shown in a peculiar way for, although all members of the family 
are far from being neat, regarding their plumage, yet this is not always as observable as 
in specimens from Florida. The piney woods, in this section, are very often burned; con¬ 
sequently, the tree trunks are more or less blackened and, as the Woodpeckers run up and 
down on them, the white feathers of the under parts become tinged with it; therefore, as 
the birds neglect to clean themselves, in course of time, they become nearly, or quite, as 
dusky below as above. Birds of this species from Pennsylvania and Massachusetts are 
generally quite clean but those from Maine and further north, have their tails stained by 
the tannic acid from the hemlock bark. Thus, aside from size, it is quite easy to tell in 
what section on the coast any particular specimen was taken by observing these extrane¬ 
ous marks. Thus I have noted that the Hairy Woodpeckers which occur in Massachu¬ 
setts in winter, seldom have buff-stained tails; consequently, judge that they do not come 
from far north, yet the species is partly migratory for, during some extreme cold seasons, 
we do occasionally have a flight of northern Hairy Woodpeckers. 
I have never seen the nest of Hairy Woodpeckers but judge that they breed early. I 
found a hole, however, containing young, during the first week in June at Williamsport, 
Pennsylvania. I ascended to the nest which was built in a small dead poplar at an eleva¬ 
tion of about twenty feet. As I was unable to reach the young, I could not ascertain how 
old they were but, judging by the loud, continuous, hissing noise which they made, they 
must have been quite well advanced. The nest of this species is seldom found in Eastern 
Massachusetts and I know of but two instances of its having been taken here; one, as re¬ 
lated under description, in Lincoln on the eighteenth of June, 1877, by the Bangs Broth¬ 
ers, which contained young about half grown, and a second, by Mr. IJ. A. Purdie, in 
Concord on the thirtieth of May last past (1879). This one contained eggs nparly ready 
to hatch. Thus we may judge that the eggs are deposited about the tenth of may in Mass¬ 
achusetts, a little later in Maine, a week or so earlier in Pennsylvania, and considerably 
in advance of this time as we proceed southward. 
The Hairy Woodpeckers, as far as I have observed, feed entirely upon insects, largely 
upon the larvae of the boring beetle. They have been accused of eating the inner bark 
of trees and, although this charge can scarcely be proved against our Eastern birds, it ap¬ 
pears that the same species West is not above suspicion in this respect. This bark-eating 
propensity must be indulged in to a limited extent and few, if any, who have given the 
matter close attention, will venture to assert that the Hairy Woodpeckers are not very use¬ 
ful birds. 
The Hairy Woodpeckers occur as far south as Middle Florida but I never saw a spec¬ 
imen at Miami or among the Keys although it is probable that they occur rarely in all 
sections of the main-land but I do not think that they breed south of Cape Cannaveral on 
the East, yet they are found a little futher south on the West. 
31 
