RED-NAPED SAPSUCKER 143 



like flickers, except that these sapsuckers were on a vertical stub. 

 There Avas no movement of the feet, but the body was bent from side to 

 side, and there was a constant 'juggling' motion. The head was tilted 

 back and the bill pointed up at an angle of sixty degrees, with neck 

 outstretched. The neck, head, and bill were in constant motion. 

 That of the bill reminded me of a musical director's baton." 



Nesting. — The Weydemeyers (1928) say of its nesting habits: "As 

 elsewhere in the state, this bird in Lincoln County nests most com- 

 monly in live aspens. Our records for this area include four nests 

 in live aspens, one in a live larch, and one in a dead Engelmann 

 spruce. These nests were all in the Transition zone, near streams, 

 Three of the nests in aspens were in a single tree, in successive 

 years. Nest -hole preparation usually commences immediately upon 

 the arrival of the birds in the spring, about April 20." 



Major Bendire (1895) gives an attractive account of finding a nest 

 of this woodpecker in a live aspen, in a small grove of these trees, 

 near Camp Harney, Oregon, on June 12, 1877: "Their nesting site 

 was directly over my head, about 20 feet from the ground. * * * 

 The entrance to the excavation was exceedingly small, not over li/^ 

 inches in diameter, about 8 inches deep, and about 4 inches wide at 

 the bottom. It contained three nearly fresh eggs, lying partly em- 

 bedded in a layer of fine chips." 



He quotes tlie following observations of Denis Gale: 



My observations have been that this subspecies invariably selects for its 

 nesting site a living aspen tree. I have never met with it in any other. This 

 tree favors the mountain gulches and low, sheltered hillsides, at an altitude of 

 from 7,000 to 10,000 feet. Above this point they do not attain sufficient size, 

 and are mostly dwarfed and scrubby. Here in Colorado Sphyrapicus varius 

 nuchalis is seldom found above 9,000 feet or much below 8,000 feet. The aspen 

 tree is short lived, and ere much of a growth is attained, a cross section, in 

 the majority of instances, will show a discolored center of incipient decay, in- 

 volving half or two-thirds of its entire diameter, with a sound, white sap zone 

 on the outer circumference, next to the bark. This sound, healthy zone 

 nourishes the tree until the decayed core discovers itself in some withered 

 limbs, and frequently the top of the tree manifests the canker. 



Such trees the Red-naped Sapsucker selects for its nesting site, and with 

 great perseverance chisels through this tough, sound zone, from 1 to l^^ inches 

 in thickness, commencing with a very small hole and gradually extending its 

 circumference with each stage of the deepening process, working from the 

 lowest center out, till the exact circumference of the intended aperture of 

 entrance is attained. In thus radiating in circles from the central point the 

 minute chips are chiseled out with considerable ease. This mode of working 

 is observed until the tough zone is worked through; what remains then is 

 comparatively easy work; the soft, soggy, lifeless inside is worked into and 

 downward with greater facility, and a roomy, gourd-shaped excavation quickly 

 follows, the female doing the excavating from beginning to end, and, accord- 

 ing to exigencies, completes it in from six to ten days. * * * 



