336 HISTORY OF THE 



Melanerpes torcLuatus (Wils.). 



LEWIS'S WOODPECKER. 

 PLATE XXII. 



Taken at Ellis bj Dr. Watson, May 6th, 1878; one specimen 

 was obtained from a flock of six or eight. 



B. 96. R. 376. C. 456. G. 173, 1.58. U. 408. 



Habitat. Western United States; east to the Black Hills and 



western Texas. 



Sp. Char. "Feathers on the under parts bristle-like. Fourth quill longest; 

 then third and fifth. Above, dark glossy green. Breast, lower part of neck, 

 and a narrow collar all round, hoary grayish white. Around the base of the bill, 

 and sides of the head to behind the eyes, dark crimson. Belly blood red, streaked 

 finely with hoary whitish. Wings and tail entirely uniform dark glossy green. 

 Female similar. Young without the nuchal collar, and the red of head replaced 

 by black." 



stretch of 



Iris brown; bill and claws black; legs and feet slate color. 



This remarkable Woodpecker inhabits the pine and oak dis- 

 tricts of the Rocky Mountain region, often in the summer months 

 reaching an elevation of over 7,500 feet, moving on the ap- 

 proach of winter into the foothills and southward. It differs in 

 many respects from the usual habits and actions of the family. 

 When going any distance its flight is high and direct, and ac- 

 complished with regular strokes of the wings; but flights from 

 tree to tree are more or less undulating. It alights and hops 

 about in the branches much like our regular perchers, and would 

 hardly be taken for a Woodpecker, unless observed while climb- 

 ing about over the trunks of trees, pecking here and there in 

 search for insects and their larva. It is an expert flycatcher, 

 and seems to delight in chasing and catching the festive grass- 

 hoppers, that (in their season) take regular afternoon aerial 

 flights. It is also a shy, wary bird of the tree tops, seldom 

 visiting the ground; and as a rule rather silent, except during 

 the mating season, when they are quite noisy. 



Their nests are usually excavated near the tops of tall, isolated, 

 dead or decaying pine trees. I have often found the birds nest- 

 ing in Colorado and New Mexico, but never low enough to be 



