404 CLLAIBIXG BIRDS— SCANSORES. 



Female with the red confined to the occipital crest, tlie rest rcphiceil by greenish-black ; 

 the three patches wliite, black, and red, very sharply defined. Length, about iJ.oO ; ex- 

 tent, 18.00 ; wing, about C.OO. Iris brown ; bill black ; feet gray. 



Female 



Hab. Coast region of Caliibrnia and south : in Northern ^Mexico, eastward almost to 

 the Gulf of Mexico ; also on I'jipcr ]!io finindc. 



This beaTitiful Ijird is one of the commonest species in all the lower re- 

 gions of California, frequenting chiefly the oaks, and extending up as far as 

 they grow on the mountains. Its brilliant plumage, lively and familiar 

 habits, and loud notes make it a very con.spicuous inhabitant of tlie woods, 

 and it will, if unmolested, liecome quite i'amiliar around dwellings. 



Their usual resorts are among tlie topmost and decayed branches, where 

 they seek their insect food ; liut they also feed in great part on insects 

 cauolit amono- the lea^■es and on the l)ark, as well as on fruits, lieing less 

 industrious in hanmiering for a subsistence than the Pin'. 



They burrow out the ca^■ity for a nest in a dead luanch, making it, ac- 

 cording to Heermann, from six incites to two I'eet deep, and laying lour or 

 five pure white eggs, on the dust and chilis at the bottom, like nearly all 

 woodpeckers. 



They are fond of playing together around tlie bi'anches, uttering their 

 rattling calls, and often darting off to take a short sail in the air, returning 

 to the same s]iot. They have a hal)it, peculiar to them, of drilling small 

 holes in the bark of trees, and fitting acorns tightly into them, each one 

 being carefully adapted, and driven tight. The bark is often so full of 

 these holes as to lea\-e scarcely room to crowd in anotlier witliout destroying 

 the bark entirely. These are generally considered as laid u]i for a winter 

 supply of food ; Init wliile in this climate no such proN'ision is necessary, it 

 is also A-ery improl)al:ile that birds of this family would feed on hard nuts or 

 seeds of any kind. The more probalde explanation is that they are pre- 



