52 BULLETIN 17 4, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



William G. Smith informs me that it is only a winter visitor in the lower 

 valleys, and is never seen there during warm weather. I found it rare near 

 Fort Custer, Montana, and only obtained a single male specimen, on November 

 23, 1884, among the willows and eottonwoods on the Little Horn River. Dr. 

 James C. Merrill, United States Army, met with it breeding at Fort Shaw, 

 Mont., early in June, 1879, and tells me that five or six eggs are generally laid 

 to a set, and that the nesting habits are just like those of the downy woodpecker. 



Lee R. Dice (1918) says that, in southeastern Washington, it is 

 "numerous throughout the year in the timber along the Touchet River 

 near Prescott. 



"* * * On June 11, 1908, a nest containing young was found 

 four feet from the ground in an apple tree near Prescott. The female 

 was seen gathering large, red aphids from nearby golden-rod. Shs 

 would gather all her mouth could hold and until the aphids stuck out 

 like a fringe all around the edges of the bill. Then she flew in a 

 direct line toward the nest. This female was also seen to gather 

 aphids from apple trees.'* 



A set of four eggs in the Thayer collection was taken near Fort 

 Shaw, Mont,, on June 8, 1879 ; the nesting cavity was 12 feet from the 

 ground in a dead tree and was excavated to a depth of 10 inches. The 

 eggs are characteristic of the species, short-ovate in shape, dull white 

 in color, and only slightly glossy. 



The measurements of 28 eggs average 19.86 by 15.29 millimeters; 

 the eggs showing the four extremes measure 23.37 by 16.00, 19.0 by 

 14.8, and 18.4 by 14.4 millimeters. 



DRYOBATES PUBESCENS MEDIANUS (Swainson) 



NORTHERN DOWNY V/OODPECKER 



Plates 7, 8 



HABITS 



Contributed by Winsok Makrett Tylek 



The downy woodpecker, including six geographical forms, inhabits 

 nearly the whole of the wooded parts of North America. It is absent 

 or rare on the arid deserts and less common in the densely forested 

 regions than some of the larger woodpeckers ; its favorite country is 

 the open woodland that covers a large part of the United States. 



When civilized man invaded their territory, the downy woodpeck- 

 ers of the Atlantic coast — the northern and southern races — did not 

 retreat before his advance but accepted as a home the orchards and 

 shade trees with which man replaced the forest. At the present time 

 it builds its nest sometimes within sight from our windows and often 

 in the parks of our large cities. It is one of the best known of our 

 permanent residents. 



