riCID^E — THE WOODPECKERS. 507 



quent. They may also be seen clinging to the stalks of the sugar-cane, bor- 

 ing them, and evidently enjoying tlie sweet juices of that plant. 



Their tlight is sliort and rapid, resemlding tliat of other allied species. 

 They are not social, never more than the members of one family being seen 

 together. They feed chiefly on insects and their larviB, often seizing the 

 former on the wing. In the autumn tliey occasionally eat berries, seeds, 

 and small fruit. Their notes are sharp and loud, uttered in monosyllables, 

 at times with great frequency. 



An egg of this species, taken in Iloxbury, Mass., is of a pure crystal white- 

 ness, oblong in shape, and equally rounded at either end, measuring 1.01 

 inches in length by .7:^ of an incli in breadth. Another, from Georgia, is 

 more rounded at one end, and measures 1.02 inches in length and .75 of an 

 inch in breadth. 



Picus villosus, var. harrisi, Aud. 



HARRIS'S WOODPECKER. 



Picus Juirrisi, AvD. Orn. Diog. V, 1839, 191, pi. occcxrii. — Is. Syn. 1839, 178. — In. 

 Birds America, IV, 1842, 242, pi. ccLxi (dark-liellied varietj-). — NuTTALl,, Man. I, 

 (2d. ed.,) 1840, 627. — B.\niD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 87. — Su.ndevall, Mon. 17.— 

 Lord, Pr. K. Art. Ass. IV, 111 (nesting). — Coi'es, Pr. A. K. S. 1866, 52 (Oregon). 

 SUMICHR.A.ST, Jlem. Bost. Soc. I, 1869, 562 (Alpine regions of Vera Cruz). — Gi:.\Y, 

 Catal. 1868, 47. — Cab.ax. J. 1862, 175. — Cassin, P. A. N. S. 1863, 200. — Cooper 

 & SucKLEY, 159. — Cooper, Orn. Cal. I, 1870, 375. ? Piciis inornatus. Light. (Bon. 

 Consp.). Piciis {Trichopiciis) luirrisi, Bp. Consp. Zyg. Ateu. Ital. 1854, 8. Sryobales 

 harrisi. Cab. & Heis. Mus. Heiu. IV, 2, 68 (jardini, 69.) Pictcs jardini, Malh. Rev. 

 Zobl. Oct. 1845, 374 (Mexico). — Cab. Jour. 1862, 175. Picus hyloscojias. Cab. & 

 Heix. Mus. Hein. IV, 2, 1863, 69 (white-bellied fonn). 



Sp. Char. Similar to typical villosus ; the iniierniost of the greater wing-coverts and 

 of the secondary quills without any white spots externally ; varying from this to the 

 entire absence of exposed white on wing except on the outer web of longest primaries. 

 Belly varying from pure white to smoky or fulvous gray, white of tail-feathers very 

 rarely blotched with black. Average length, in north, 9.00 ; wing, 5.00 ; exposed part of 

 cuhnen, 1.15. 



Var. yardmi much smaller. Length, 7.00 ; wing, 3.90 ; culmen, .8.5. 



Had. Whole of Western United States, west of the Missouri plains, extending into 

 Mexico and Central America, where it passes into the smallest and darkest southern ex- 

 treme, known as P. jardini. Localities : West Arizona (Coues, P. A. N. S. 1866, 52) ; 

 Vera Cruz, Alpine regions (StJMicnRAST, M. Bost. Soc. I, 1869, 502). 



In the preceding article we have given some general remarks on Harris's 

 Woodpecker, and shown why we cannot consider it a well-defined species. 

 If the specimens from the extreme west were constant in themselves, and tlie 

 variations, as with Colaptcs hyhridus, occurred along the line of contact with 

 villosus, we might refer to hybrids many of the intermediate forms; but as 

 scarcely any two are alike, even on the Pacific coast, such a view is inad- 

 missible. As, however, in the extreme limits of variation, there is yet a 



j> u «.^ . 



