370 LAND BIRDS 



thologists have made it a subspecies of the Arctic Three- 

 toed and call it Picoides arcticus tenuirostris, or Sierra 

 Three-toed Woodpecker. It is like the Arctic in color 

 and habits, but has a more slender bill. It is found in 

 the northern Sierra Nevada as far south as Lake Tahoe. 



404. WILLIAMSON SAFSUCKER. — Sphi/rapicus 

 thyroideus. 



Family : The Woodpeckers. 



Length: 9.00-9.75. 



Adult Male: Upper parts, throat, and breast black; throat with a me- 

 dian stripe of bright red ; rump and patch on wing-coverts white ; 



quills finely spotted with white ; sides of head striped with white ; 



belly yellow. 

 Adult Female: Body barred with brown or black and white; rump 



white ; head plain brown ; chest with black patch ; middle of belly 



yellow. 

 Geographical Distribution : Western United States, from the Rocky 



Mountains to the western slope of the Sierra Nevada ; winters in 



Southern California. 

 California Breeding Range: Along the Sierra Nevada from Shasta to 



the San Jacinto mountains. 

 Breeding Season: May 15 to July 1. 

 Nest : In large dead pines, 5 to 60 feet from the ground. 

 Eggs: 5 or 6 ; pure white. Size 0.97 X 0.67. 



So unlike are the male and the female of this Wood 

 pecker that for a long time they were listed as different 

 species by ornithologists. The general effect of the 

 male's coloring is black, that of the female brown ; and 

 unless one is forewarned or experienced, he is apt even 

 now to look for another name when he first sees the 

 female. 



They nest commonly in the Sierra Nevada near Lake 



