146 



BIRDS OF AMERICA 



All of the climbing birds are, of course, pretty 

 good at climbing, that being their business; but 

 this little Woodpecker has a trick of flying up 

 and lighting on the under side of a limb, and 

 while thus upside down turning around a few 

 times, like an inverted weather-cock, which 

 makes one gasp, and wonder if he has any nerves 

 at all. 



Another peculiarity of the bird is his manifest 

 preference for oaks and other deciduous trees, 

 which he frequents virtually to the exclusion of 

 the conifers. The first word of his scientific 

 name "Dryohatcs " is a combination of two 

 Greek words meaning " oak " and " treader " ; so 

 literally he and his relatives, the Hairy, Downy, 

 Red-cockaded, and Texas Woodpecker families, 

 are " treaders of oaks." 



Of his temperament, Mrs. Bailey gives the fol- 

 lowing interesting glimpses : " He has the full 

 strength of his convictions and will drive a big 

 Flicker from a sycamore and then stretch up on 

 a branch and call out triumphantly. Two Nut- 

 tails trying to decide whether to fight are an 

 amusing sight. They shake their feathers and 

 scold and dance about as if they were aching to 

 fly at each other, but could not quite make up 

 their minds to so grave a matter." 



The bird evidently prefers to attend strictly to 

 business, and is likely to become so absorbed in 

 hammering away at bark or wood where his prey 

 lurks, that often one may approach to within a 

 very short distance without disturbing him. The 

 black crown, the black and white bars on the 

 back ( suggesting the American Three-toed 

 \\'oodpecker), and the white feathers on the sides 

 of the tail are marks by which the bird may 

 easily be identified. 



In the mountains of southwestern New 

 Mexico and southern Arizona and south into 

 northwestern Mexico lives another member of 

 the " oak-treader " family. He is known by the 

 name of Arizona Woodpecker {Dryohatcs ari- 

 zona). His upper parts are plain brown except 



for the red nape. He is a little longer than the 

 Texas Woodpecker. 



The animal food of Nuttall's Woodpecker is 

 composed chiefly of insects which are either pests 

 or of no positive benefit. The bird eats some 



I'lK.io 1,> W. L. Finley and H. T. Bohlman 



NUTTALL'S WOODPECKER 



Practically all the insects which it eats are either pests or of no 

 positive benefit 



fruit, but this is largely and probably entirely 

 wild varieties. Nothing worse can be said of 

 this bird than that it possibly helps in the dis- 

 tribution of the seeds of poison oak. 



8'^ 



General Description. — Length 

 lilack ; head, white. 



Color. — Adult Male: Head, all ruund (except rear 

 of crown, upper nape, and a streak behind eye) together 

 zfith forcncck. plain zvliitc, the nasal tufts tinged with 

 brownish: rear of crown and nape with a band of 

 bright poppy red; rest of plumage, uniform slightly 

 glossy, black, duller black on wings, the primaries 

 e.\tensively white on basal half of both webs, this white 

 extending much farther on outer than on inner web; 



WHITE-HEADED WOODPECKER 



Xenopicus albolarvatus {Cassin) 



A. O. U. Number 399 

 inches. Body 



bill, slate-blackish ; iris, brownish-red or dull carmine. 

 Adult Female: Similar to the adult inale, but without 

 any red on head or nape. 



Nest and Eggs. — ^Nest: In stub of pine or fir tree, 

 usually from 4 to 15 feet frotn ground. Eggs: 3 to 7. 

 white. 



Distribution. — Cascade and Sierra Nevada Moun- 

 tains, from southern British Columbia southwar<l 

 through Washington and Oregon to southern Cali- 

 fornia ; east to western Idaho and western Nevada. 



