210 NESTS AND EGGS OF 



ing season, which occurs in latter part of April, through May and the 

 early part of June. It does not accept the society of other species like 

 its miniature, the little " Sapsucker " Downy Woodpecker, and always 

 maintains a more dignified manner than this species when hunting 

 insects in the trunks of trees. 



The nest cavity is commonly dug in dead or partially dead tree- 

 trunks, on the outskirts of woods or those in orchards ; the distance 

 from the ground usually ranges from ten to twenty feet, and the depth 

 of the cavity eight to fifteen inches. No material is used for a nest 

 lining ; the eggs simply rest on the fine chips made during the exca- 

 vating. Four, rarely five, glossy-white eggs are deposited. Five spec- 

 imens measure .g/x.yo, . 98x70, . 94x^9, i.oox.yo, i.oox.Gg. The 

 northern form, D. v. leucomelas Bodd, is found from about the north- 

 ern border of the United States northward. D. v. aud2ibonii Swainson 

 is the race of the Southern United States, east of the Plains. 



393<r. Dryobates villosus harrisii (AUD.) [360^.] 



Harris's 'Woodpecker. 



Hab. Western United States from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific, south to the Table Lands of 

 Mexico. 



Harris's Woodpecker is exactly like D. villosus, except that it has 

 fewer wing spots; the coverts and tertials are plain black, the 

 lower parts are usually white, frequently pure white, rarely smoky- 

 gray. In the mountainous regions of the West this bird is quite 

 common, inhabiting all kinds of forests, especially those of the 

 pine regions throughout the Sierra Nevada range, from Wash- 

 ington Territory southward also in Arizona, New Mexico, Col- 

 orado, etc. Four eggs taken in Socorro county, New Mexico, 

 exhibit the following sizes: . 95x^7, .98x.69, .gGx.yo, .g/x.yo. 

 They are glossy-white. These were taken May 5, 1887, from a 

 hole in an oak tree forty feet from the ground. In all respects the 

 nesting and eggs are similar to those of D, villosus, 



Mr. Norris has three sets of the eggs of this bird, two taken at 

 Fort Klamath, Oregon, May 10 and 19, 1888 ; the third was collected 

 near Salem, Oregon, May 12 ; all are of four eggs each. The last set 

 measures i.oix.78, 1.02 x. 79, .95X.76, i.oix.76 respectively. 



394. Dryobates pubescens (LINN.) [361.] 



Downy Woodpecker. 



Hab. Northern and Eastern North America, and sporadically the western portions Colorado, Utah, 

 Nevada, California, etc. 



Commonly called the Little or the Lesser " Sapsucker," but this 

 is a misnomer, and a term which can only be applied with any propri- 

 ety to woodpeckers of the genus Sphyrapicus. 



This is perhaps the most social of all our Woodpeckers, and one 



