P180 Walter D. Koenig Melanerpes formicivorus Plague Hastings Reservation (21 May) the hole, but the hole contained no eggs. | 609. 8473 plus 9496 at hole; ♀ looking in, both leave w/o entering | 703. 9494 at hole, but (leaves w/o entering.) | 712. 9496 and 8473 in top a 2º tree together. | 840. 9494 at hole again but leaves w/o entering./. 22 May 845. Birds at the hole (they're showing lots of interest in it now) but nothing in it yet. 23-24 May Two exciting days here, as these birds began their 2nd nest in the hole in the 2º tree. On 23 May they began: Ron saw [illegible] and both ♀♀ go in, then watched as 9494 went in and out several times while 9496 stayed down for some time. Eventually 9496 left. Just as Ron got out to check the hole, 9494 went in and left with an egg! The nest, however, contained 1 egg still - a runt which was 21.1 x 16.6 mm. At that point Sandy began watching, only to see 9494 go in again and fly out with that egg! At that point we watched for the rest of the day seeing the 2♀♀ and 8473 spend a fair amount of time in the nest together, but to no one's surprise no more eggs were laid. Unfortunately, the tossing was a little unclear - did 9494 know her egg (the runt?) was bad and so decide she could afford to leave hers and the other egg out? Or is it possible that 9496 laid both a normal and a runt egg? In any case, the tossing itself is iron clad, even if we are unable to pin who did what to whom precisely. On the 24th I watched during prime hours and saw both ♀♀ go in together again. [illegible] After both being inside for a time 9496 looked out for almost 10 min. Then she went back down while 9494 looked out briefly and then left, followed