HARRIS' WOODPECKER. 165 



7,000 feet above the sea-level. It is the most 

 stupid bird imaginable: when five or six are 

 flushed together, they fly up into the nearest pine- 

 tree, and there sit ; throw sticks and stones at 

 them, until you are tired, and they scorn to be 

 frightened. I have often shot one or two in a 

 tree where others were sitting, without their 

 attempting to fly away. They remain in the 

 deep woods and sheltered places during the 

 winter, and feed on the leaves of the pine-tree. 

 They begin nesting in May, and in proceeding 

 from Colville to the Eocky Mountains I saw lots 

 of chickens in June and July not long from the 

 nest. I do not think these birds pair, in the 

 strict sense of the word; but from the large 

 number of females compared to males, I am dis- 

 posed to think they are polygamists. I never 

 succeeded in obtaining the eggs, but the mature 

 birds and chickens are set up in the British 

 Museum. 



It may be as well to mention here the different 

 woodpeckers common in the pine-forests, open 

 timbered lands, and shrubby brush surrounding 

 the lakes and prairies both east and west of the 

 Cascades : 



HARRIS' WOODPECKER (Picus harrisii, Aud.). 

 This woodpecker is by far the most abundant 



