214 
WOODPECKERS 
Nest. — In aspens and coniferous 
trees, 40 to 50 feet from the ground. 
Eggs: usually 3 to 5, white. 
Food. — Wood-boring beetles and 
larvae which infest timbered tracts; 
also ants, wild grapes, berries, black 
gum, dogwood, pokeweed, and service 
berries, acorns, beechnuts, and chest¬ 
nuts. 
The pileated woodpecker is not a 
common bird in the western forests, 
but is found in the Cascades and 
Sierra Nevada, and when we were 
From Biological Survey, U. S. Dept, of Camping On Mount Shasta W6 Would 
non at Agnc “ lturc ' sometimes hear his slow deliberate 
Fig. 280. Northern Pileated Woodpecker. . 
hammering and Ins ‘ bugle call at 
sunrise. Though often heard he was seldom seen, but we were occa¬ 
sionally fortunate enough to catch a glimpse of him with his con¬ 
spicuous red crest winging his way with powerful bounding flight 
through the forest and over the woodland meadows. 
Stubs, torn and excavated by his ‘ borings ’ were found quite com¬ 
monly in the Transition belt. In many of the excavations I no¬ 
ticed that while the main cut might cover a section six inches long 
and three wide, at the bottom of the big excavation would be a small 
round hole that your thumb could fill, looking as if the worm were 
finally found there. One of our party who was fortunate enough to 
see the pileated at work described the process in detail. The bird 
began by flying hastily from tree to tree, from tree to stump, and 
stump to ground, finally going to work on a log on the ground. 
After some preliminary pecking he began chiseling near a branch. 
A steady pounding followed and the chips flew. The arc through 
which his head was swung was so wide it seemed as if his neck must 
break, but the bill came down straight, with the blow of a sledge¬ 
hammer. After pounding awhile the bird stopped and pecked at 
the bark till a big slab slid off, suggesting that he had been digging 
deep holes, and then had worried off the surrounding bark. After 
this followed a long period of quiet when his head moved around 
busily without noise, as if he were probing the holes with his tongue 
and enjoying his meal. 
In the Yosemite National Park where shooting is forbidden the 
pileated, instead of being one of the shyest of birds, is one of those 
most in evidence, and as you drive by actually makes itself con¬ 
spicuous by flying freely among the trees so near that you can see 
his brilliant red head and the white spots on his wings, while he 
utters his loud ringing chuck , chuck, chuck , chuck, chuck, chucks chuck. 
