372 LAND BIRDS 



even more courageous than the Sapsuckers, but the blue- 

 birds flew far away. 



The young Sapsuckers must have been fledged when 

 I discovered the nest, June 10 ; for on the twelfth they 

 came out of the nursery and flew away with their brown 

 mother and black and white father into the deeper woods, 

 where I lost sight of them. A plummet dropped into 

 the nest hole told me it was nine inches deep. It was 

 on the sunny south side of the tree, and several degrees 

 hotter inside than the surrounding atmosphere. As is 

 always the case with woodpeckers, every bit of excre- 

 ment had been carried away while fresh by the parent, 

 and the nest was as clean as if freshlv excavated. 



405 a. NORTHERN PILEATED WOODPECKER. 



Phlceotonms pileatus ahieticola. 



(Common Names : Cock of the Woods ; Log Cock.) 

 Family : The Woodpeckers. 



Length: 16.00-19.00. 



AchtU Male: Head conspicuously crested; bill longer than head; top of 

 head, crest, and malar stripe scarlet ; chin and side of head pale 

 lemon-color or white; a white patch on the wings; undei- wing- 

 coverts white ; rest of plumage dull brownish black ; feathers of 

 belly tipped with ashy. 



Adult Female : Like male, but crown and malar stripe brown instead 

 of red. 



Young : Crest salmon-colored, otherwise like female. 



Geographical Distribution: Heavily wooded districts of North America, 

 from the Southern Alleghanies north to latitude 63°, west to the 

 Pacific (Bailey). 



California Breeding Range : Timbered areas in the northern part of the 

 Sierra Nevada as far south as King's River Canon and Eel River. 



Breeding Season : May and June. 



