1976 Walter D. Koenig 6 Melanerpes formicivorus Arnold 1 Hastings Reservation (22 May) may even have a nest here and these 2♂ may have been incubating during the night. A further complication arises in that my censuses in April had given me the distinct impression that there was only 1 unbanded ♂ here, along with 2 unbanded ♀♀ and ♂199. Obviously I was mistaken! For now I will merely add the 2 birds (#266 and 267; 266 formerly 353); #267 will have been #404 unring previously but I shall have to watch here some more before I decide how to handle him. 23 May No birds seen in hole this afternoon. 24 May After seeing birds in the hole, I went up to it in order to figure out what's up. I tried peering inside with my widget, but that didn't solve anything, so I went ahead and started to saw the thing open. I didn't finish, but made it much of the way so that it should not be much of a problem completing the job tomorrow. At one point I thought I heard a the feeble squeak of a newly hatched baby, but it may have been my imagination. I shall find out tomorrow, I suppose. 25 May 1000. Went back up and finished the rather arduous job at the hole, but was rewarded with 3 eggs; 2 good and 1 dwarf. The 2 good eggs were not freshly laid - they seemed to have been a few days old, as they were nearly opaque, though not yet ivory-colored. 26 May 1900. Up in the vicinity of the '75 nest tree were Zunrung ♀♀ who I presume to have been the ones living here. Nobody was in the nest hole itself, but incubation probably hasn't begun yet. → go to p.8