SOUTHERN HAIRY WOODPECKER 27 



is probably some southward migration or wandering from at least 

 the northern portion of its range and perhaps from the southern 

 parts also. That some individuals remain far north in winter is 

 shown by the fact that the Fort Simpson specimen was taken on 

 December 29, 1860. The Weydemeyers (1928) say that during win- 

 ter, in northwestern Montana, "this woodpecker is commonly found 

 in mixed broad-leaf and conifer associations along streams, but it is 

 most abundant at that season in the larch woods of the valleys." 



DRYOBATES VILLOSUS AUDUBONI (Swainson) 



SOUTHERN HAIRY WOODPECKER 



Plate 5 



HABITS 



In the Lower Austral Zone of the South Atlantic and Gulf States 

 we find this small race of the hairy woodpecker. In addition to being 

 decidedly smaller than its northern relative, the white of the under 

 parts is less pure, and the white markings of the upper parts are 

 somewhat smaller. 



Arthur H. Howell (1932) says of its haunts in Florida: "The 

 southern hairy woodpecker, though not particularly shy, prefers the 

 wilder sections for its home. It occurs in a variety of situations — 

 the open pine forests, oak hammocks, and the hardwoods of the deep 

 river swamps. The birds are of a rather solitary disposition, and 

 rarely is more than a single bird or a pair found near together." 



Nesting. — Mr. Howell (1932) says that "the nests are located 12 to 

 45 feet from the ground in holes excavated in dead oaks or willow 

 stubs, or in cypresses growing on the edge of a swamp." S. A. 

 Grimes (1932) says: "A nest thirty feet up in a live cypress near 

 Eastport [Florida] held three eggs on April 13. Two well feathered 

 young were found in a hole fifteen feet up in a dead sweet gum in 

 southern Duval County on May 13. A nest eight feet up in a pine 

 stub in northern St. Johns County contained three heavily incubated 

 eggs on May 11." 



Arthur T. Wayne (1910) says that in Soutli Carolina "the nest 

 is very hard to find; indeed I have found but six nests, two which 

 contained eggs, and four which contained young. I have known 

 this species to excavate a hole and raise a brood in a limb of a living 

 live oak tree, but it generally excavates its hole in a dead tree and at 

 a great height. A set of three fresh eggs was taken April 7, 1898, 

 from a hole 40 feet from the ground in a dead pine. This hole was 

 14 inches deep. The young remain in the hole for more than a 

 month after they are hatched." 



Harold H. Bailey (1913) says that in Virginia "dead stubs of gum 

 and poplar treetops seem to be their favorite location for a nesting 



