246 C. H. Macklin—Breeding the White-headed Woodpecker


half size and I removed it. They were glossy white and rather small

for the size of the birds. The bottom of the box was flat, so I put a

handful or so of coarse sawdust under the eggs to stop them rolling

about. Both cock and hen took turns at sitting and did not come off

when the aviary was entered for feeding, etc.


On 15th June two eggs hatched ; the third was infertile.


Next day I started a supply of ants 5 eggs and heard the young birds

squeaking when fed. The cock bird did most of the feeding while

the hen brooded the chicks at night. For the first week they fed them

chiefly on mealworms and ants’ eggs, but also seemed to take beakfuls

of soft food into the nest. After feeding they removed the excreta and

dropped it at the end of the flight. On 21st June the two chicks were

still naked, skin pale pinkish-white, but were just showing tail quills.

A week later their bodies were darker and the wing quills showing.

2nd July, body feathers just showing. On 8th July one of the chicks

was dying, its abdomen was swollen and inflamed. The other chick

was bigger and stronger.


On 15th July the young bird was well feathered and was showing

the lemon yellow cock’s patch on the back of the head.


On 21st July, at thirty-six days old, the young bird came out of the

nest hole and sat on the top of the box for a short while before popping

back into the nest. Three days later he was flying strongly about

the aviary. He was nearly as big as his parents and his plumage was

the same as theirs except that he had no yellow on the abdomen and the

bare skin round the eyes was pale blue instead of yellow.


He spent a good deal of time in the nest and roosted there at night.


15th August, the young bird is now feeding himself and seems well

established ; he is now almost as big as his father.



