234 Birds of Colorado 



A young bird — a female killed in September — is quite different, 

 the red parts are mottled grey and dusky, the back black, edged with 

 greyish, the white secondaries variegated with black and the under- 

 parts grey, streaked with dusky. 



Distribution. — Eastern North America from Ontario to the Gulf 

 States, west to the Rocky Mountains from Colorado to British Columbia, 

 migratory in the northern, a resident in the southern parts of its range, 

 casual to Utah and Arizona. 



The Red-head is a common summer bird in eastern Colorado, more 

 abundant in the plains than in the mountains, though said to nest by 

 Drew as high as 10,000 feet. The only breeding record in the moun- 

 tains I have met with is that of Gale, which probably does not exceed 

 8,000 feet ; and it is stated to be rare at Estes Park (Kellogg) and in 

 South Park (Allen). It arrives late from the south — Springfield, May 

 15th (Warren), Pueblo, May I5th (Beckham) and El Paso co., May 12th 

 (Aiken coll.), and Henderson reports it as late as October 23rd at 

 Boulder. Apart from Breckenridge, which is practically on the con- 

 tinental Divide, the only record for the western slope is that of Warren 

 (08), who saw a male near Steamboat Springs on June 10th. Breeding 

 records are : Boulder co. (Gale), Crow Creek, Weld co. (McGregor). 



Habits. — ^This is a handsome and attractive bird, but 

 is rather disreputable in its habits. There can be no 

 question that it sucks the eggs and kills the young birds 

 of other species. Mr. W. G. Smith writes to Bendire : 

 " I consider it a veritable butcher among our Nuthatches 

 and Chickadees, driving every one away from its nesting- 

 site ; and woe to the bird that this villain can reach. 

 It destroys both eggs and young, dragging the latter 

 out of their nests and frequently leaving the dead at the 

 entrance of their holes." 



The Red-head is chiefly met with along the borders 

 of woods and in the cotton- wood groves along the streams. 

 It catches insects on the wing, darting at them from a 

 fence or telegraph post, where they often perch. They 

 do not work for the wood-borers as other Woodpeckers, 

 but obtain larvae and other insects from tree bark, 

 and in the autumn feed largely on acorns, nuts and 

 berries, sometimes laying up a store like the Californian 



