WOODPECKERS 



141 



or al)sent altogether. Harris's ' Woodpecker 

 (Drxobatcs villosiis liarrisi) is found along the 

 Pacific coast from Alaska to northern California. 

 Cabanis's Woodpecker ( Dryobalcs z'illosus hylo- 

 scof^iis) lives in the interior districts from north- 

 ern California, southern Utah, northwestern and 

 central New Mexico, extreme southwestern 

 Texas, south to the mountains of western 

 Mexico. The range of the Queen Charlotte 

 Woodpecker {Dryobatcs rillosiis fticoidriis) is 

 limited to the Queen Charlotte Islands, British 

 Columbia. These last three varieties are about an 

 inch smaller than the Northern and Kocky 

 Mountain Hairies, and their differences from one 

 another are comparative. 



L. Nelson Nichols. 



The ilairv Woodpecker is a bird from which 

 the orchardist and forester have nothing to 

 fear and much to gain. The number of useful 

 insects which he eats is insignificant while the 

 number of destructive larv.-e which he devours 

 must have a very great effect in reducing the 

 number of these pests. More than three-fourths 

 of the food of this \\'oodpecker consists of ani- 

 mal matter and less than a fourth of the re- 

 mainder is fruit and this is mostly wild fruit. 

 The ratio between the animal food and the 

 vegetable matter does not vary greatly during the 

 year; the w-ood-boring larvse upon which this 

 bird so largely feeds can be obtained at all times 

 of the year and the same is true of most of its 

 vegetable food. 



NEST AND EGGS OF HAJfRY WOODPECKER 



Section of stub removed 



DOWNY WOODPECKER 

 Dryobates pubescens medianus (S7^'ain.u»i) 



A. O. U. Number 394c See Color Plate 59 



Other Names. — Little Guinea Woodpecker ; Little 

 Sapsuckcr ( incorrect) ; Tommy Woodpecker : Black 

 and White Driller. 



General Description. — Length, 614 inches. Upper 

 parts, black and wliite; under parts, white. 



Color. — Adult M.\le : Crown, sides of head, center 

 of hindneck. sides of back, shoulders, and upper tail- 

 coverts, black faintly glossed with bluish ; four middle 

 tail-teathers, black, without gloss; wings, dull black, 

 passing into dark brownish slaty on primary coverts 

 and terminal portion of primaries, the middle coverts 

 with a rather large roundish spot of white near end and 

 a sub-basal roundish or transverse spot of the same; 

 greater coverts with a roundish sub-terminal spot of 

 white on outer web and a sub-basal roundish spot (con- 

 cealed) of same on both webs; secondaries crossed by 

 four transverse series of roundish white spots, the first 

 concealed by greater coverts, the last smaller and ter- 



tninal ; outer webs of primaries with similar but more 

 elongate and square spots, about four in nuinber on 

 longest quills besides a smaller terminal spot or margin ; 

 a broad center stripe of white on back, this sometimes 

 slightly streaked with black ; tzco lateral tail-feathers on 

 eaeli side, zuhite, zvith two broad black bars across rear 

 I'ortioii. the upper one usually broken or interrupted; 

 third feather with rear half of outer web, white, the ter- 

 minal portion of inner web with one or more broad 

 white bars or spots; nasal tufts, dull white, the bristle- 

 like shafts black terminally; a white stripe over side of 

 head, continued, narrowly, above eye, its rear end in 

 contact with a bright red nape band ; a broad stripe 

 of white, extending in front beneath eye. to lores, where 

 confluent with the duller white of nasal tufts, its rear 

 end involving sides of neck; cheeks, grayish intermixed 

 with black in front, continued behind as a gradually 

 widening " solid " black stripe which curves upward 



