166 GAIRDNER'S AND WHITE-HEADED WOODPECKER. 



species in the district. It is found on Vancouver 

 Island, and along the entire course of the Boun- 

 dary-line, south through Oregon and California, 

 north to Fort Simpson : a few remain at Colville 

 during the winter, but the greater number retire 

 to the coast, and return in April and May. In 

 May they pair, and bore out a hole in a dead tree ; 

 they use no lining for the nest, but lay the eggs 

 on the bare wood. Their favourite haunt is on 

 the stumps of trees growing round swamps or 

 prairie-land. 



GAIRDNER'S WOODPECKER (Picus gairdneri, 

 Aud.). The same remarks apply to this wood- 

 pecker as to the preceding, Picus liarrisii. It dif- 

 fers slightly in habit, generally hunting for insects 

 on the maples, alders, and stunted oaks rather 

 than on the pine-trees. Specimens of both species 

 were shot on Vancouver Island, Sumass prairie, 

 Colville, and west slope of the Rocky Mountains, 

 at an altitude of 7,000 feet above the sea-level. 



WHITE-HEADED WOODPECKER (Picus albolar- 

 vatus, Baird). The only place I ever saw this 

 very rare bird was in the open timbered country 

 about the Colville valley and Spokan river; why 

 it should be confined to such a limited area I am 

 somewhat at a loss to imagine, except it be that 

 this woodpecker almost invariably haunts the 



