deh ee ADM) BAO NS Bitlis Here N 15 
was the nesting hole of a red-bellied woodpecker in the woods along the 
southeast boundary and almost directly east of the last parking area. This, 
I believe, is the first actual nesting record of the red-bellied woodpecker 
in the Chicago area. As I am a conservationist and not a collector, I did 
not attempt to collect either the parent birds or the eggs. It will have to 
remain a sight record and perhaps the birds will nest there again this year. 
Later on I found another nest hole in Thatcher Woods, along the edge of 
the woods just east of the big open area north of the shelter house. Several 
people had an opportunity to observe this nest, among them Mr. and Mrs. 
T. H. Wasson. 
I first noticed the red-bellied woodpecker in Elk Grove in the woods 
when I was surveying this particular small area in March. I first noticed 
him on March 24, for it was a male. Three days later it was still in the 
same little patch of woods. A week later it was still in the same woods 
and was calling and drumming a great deal. April 9 I noticed a female in 
the woods. The male was very bold and noisy. If I sat down and remained 
motionless he would come down and eye me from a, few feet distant and 
scold me, then fly away to a nearby tree as he saw the female and call and 
drum on a dead stub, then dance around with his wings and tail spread 
out, doing strange antics on the tree trunks. Four days later they had 
mated. Two more days later I heard a woodpecker digging in the broken 
stub at the top of a hard maple tree. I noticed a hole about 30 feet from 
the ground. I thought this might be the red-belly beginning to nest, so 
I sat on a low stump in a clump of bushes nearby where I could watch. 
Sure enough, one soon appeared at the entrance hole, flew out and alighted 
on a tree about 20 feet away and disgorged a mouthful of small chips, then 
flew back into the nest hole. Shortly it appeared again and repeated the 
process. When one was tired of digging the other took its place, both 
birds taking their turns at the business of excavating. In four days the 
cavity must have been completed for I did not see or hear them digging any 
more. I was very curious to have a look into the nest hole but was a little 
afraid to disturb them too soon, lest they desert the nest. They had now 
become very shy and secretive, which was the exact opposite of their 
earlier behavior. 
Two days later I brought with me a small pocket mirror and a flash- 
light. I did not wish to cut into or enlarge the nest hole in any way, but 
I just had to have a look. When I came to the tree I rapped sharply on 
the trunk with a stick. The female stuck her head out, but when she saw 
me hastily withdrew it again. As I started to climb the tree she fiew out, 
scolded me a few times with her rolling, scolding note, and flew off into 
the woods. The hole was about two inches in diameter. By holding my 
mirror, which was 1% by 3% inches, face down against the roof of the 
nest hole I could angle the light from my flashlight down into the nest 
and see the reflection of the bottom in the mirror. It showed the hole to 
be about 16 inches deep. I later measured it accurately by carefully 
lowering a long stick to the bottom of the hole. It was four inches in 
diameter at the bottom of the hole, more or less flask-shaped, tapering to 
about two inches at the entrance. Two white eggs were lying on a few 
