NOTES ON THE BIRDS OF TENNESSEE — \VETMORE 197 



Copperhill, a male taken at 2,100 feet on July 15, with the wing 112 

 mm, and a female secured at 1,800 feet on July 12, with the wing 

 114.5 mm. A juvenile male was collected here on July 15. The 

 adults are much worn, but the same statement holds with them as 

 that made for the Crossville specimens. 



It is strange that the birds from Frankewing have the size and 

 color of true villosus, in view of the fact that the bird from Cross- 

 ville has the smaller size of mtduboni. As the Frankewing specimens 

 were taken in November, it is barely possible that they had moved 

 into that area from the north, though it seems more probable that 

 they were resident. Considerable further collecting will be necessary 

 to work out the status and distribution of the southern form, particu- 

 larly in the area adjacent to the Mississippi River, and in the south- 

 east, 



DRYOBATES PUBESCENS PUBESCENS (Linnaeus): Southern Downy 



Woodpecker 



As in the case of the hairy woodpecker, the downy woodpecker 

 of Tennessee covers a considerable area where there is definite inter- 

 gradation between the northern and the southern forms. The south- 

 ern subspecies, pubescens, has the wing in both males and females 

 ranging from 86 to 91 mm, while in the northern bird, medianus, 

 the same dimension varies from 91 to 97 mm. It is usually supposed 

 that the southern bird is duller white below, a character that is 

 entirely unreliable, as any recent burn will smudge the breasts of 

 all woodpeckers from the charcoal and ash on the bark of the trees 

 and shrubs over which they clamber. 



Birds that I have identified as typical pubescens come from the 

 southern sections of Tennessee. A male collected at Hickory Withe, 

 Fayette County, on April 10 has the wing 88 mm, and a female from 

 the same point taken on April 9 measures 90.5 mm. In the western 

 edge of Lincoln County, 6 miles east of the post office of Fralik- 

 ewing, a male measuring 88.3 mm was taken on November 3, and a 

 female with tlie wing 90.5 mm on November 6. At this point there 

 was a mixture, as larger birds measuring 93.8 and 94 mm were ob- 

 tained at the same time. These are considered mediarius and may 

 be migrant from some mountain or northern area nearby. A male 

 from Birds Creek, 7 miles southwest of Crossville, May 24, has the 

 wing 89.6 mm. Mixing is evident at Kockwood also, in material 

 collected by W. H. Fox, as two males taken on April 11, 1884, and 

 April 15, 1885, measure 91 mm, and a female secured April 7, 1884, 

 is 91.1 mm. Another female, taken on March 13, 1885, is 95.5 mm 

 and represents medmnus^ and again may have come from a nearby 

 mountain. A male taken at 2,100 feet elevation on Big Frog Moun- 

 tain, 8 miles southwest of Copperhill, July 9, measures 89 mm. 



