^ THE WHITE-HE ADED WOODPECKER. 427 



and an oijcning made about an incli and a (juarter in dianietcT. After 

 driving straight in an inch or two, the passage turns down and widens two 

 or three diameters. At a depth of a foot or so the crystal white eggs are 

 deposited on a neat bed of fine cliips. Incul)ati(in hists twelve days and the 

 young are hatched about the 1st of June. 



Mr. Bowles asserts that when a tree cnntaining eggs is rapped the 

 sitting bird will try, sometimes successfully, to deceive the inquirer bv coming 

 to the entrance and dropping out a mouthful of chippings, thus conve\ing 

 the impression that she is still building. It's a shame to give it away. 



No. 168. 



WHITE-HEADED WOODPECKER. 



A. O. V. No. 39<j. Xenopicus albolar\atus (Cass.). 



Description. — .idiilt male: Body plumage and tail glossy black : wings dull 

 black with large blotch of white 011 median portion of inner jirimaries and 

 secondaries, and some disconnected white spotting distally: throat and entire head 

 (not deeply) white; a scarlet patch on nape. Bill and feet slatv black; iris red. 

 Female: Exactly as male Ti'/Z/fo/ff scarlet nuchal band. Length: 9.00-9.50 (228.6- 

 241.3) ; wing 5.15 I 130.8) ; tail 3.50 (88.9). 



Recognition Marks. — Chewink to Robin size; white head nni(|ue. 



Nesting. — Xest: A hole in live pine tree at moderate height. H(](/s: ^-J. 

 usually 4, pure white. Av. size, .95 x .71 1 24.1 x 18). Season: June-July, accord- 

 ing to altitude ; one brood. 



General Range. — Mountains of the Pacific Coast States north into I'.ritish 

 Columbia, east to Idaho and Utah. 



Range in Washington. — Resident in the mountains, chieflv cast of the Cas- 

 cade summit. 



Authorities. — Piciis albolari-atiis. Baird, Rep. Pac. R. R. Surv. IX. 1858. p. 

 97. C&S. D'. D-\ J. 



Specimens. — Prov. C. 



THERE is a Gray's Harbor record for this bird, but the i)ccurrence 

 is unique west of the Cascades. So far as our experience goes, the White- 

 head is to be looked for only in the pine timber which clothes the eastern 

 slopes of the Cascades and tlieir outliers. The range of the species extends 

 casually northward into British Columbia, but the southern boundary 

 of Oregon is nearer its center of distribution, and the birds decrease rapidly 

 in numbers north of the Peshastin Range in Washington. 



At first glance we would say that this bird eschews protective coloration 

 altogether, but Mrs. Bailey argues that even black and white are not very 



s 



