NATALIE'S SAPSUCKER 163 



Milton p. Skinner says in his Yellowstone Park notes: "In this 

 Park, the Williamson sapsucker lives below 7,000 feet and prefers 

 mixed forests of aspen and fir, but it is not particular whether in dense 

 forest or in the borderland between forest and open." 



Spring. — Mr. Swarth (1904) witnessed a well-marked spring migra- 

 tion in the Huachuca Mountains, Ariz., of which he says : 



Ou April 6, 1902, I saw about a dozen Williamsou Sapsuckers near the summit 

 of the mountains at an altitude of about 9,000 feet. Though not at all in a 

 compact flock they seemed to keep rather close together, and when one flew any 

 distance away, the others soon followed. The bulk of them were females, and 

 but one or two males were seen, one of which was, with great difficulty secured, 

 for they were very wild. On April 9 several more were seen and a female 

 secured at this same place ; and a male was taken a mile or two from this place, 

 at an altitude of nearly 10,000 feet. These were the last I saw in the spring, 

 though they do occur later as I have a female that was taken in the Huachucas 

 by H. Kimball on April 20, 1895. 



Nesting. — The nesting habits of this woodpecker do not seem to 

 differ materially from those of the species elsewhere. Bendire (1895) 

 quotes W. G. Smith, as follows : "Williamson's Sapsucker is a common 

 summer resident in Estes Park, Colorado, Avliere it nests mostly in 

 dead pines, often within a few feet of the ground, and again as high as 

 70 feet up. Full sets of fresh eggs are usually found here during the 

 first week in June. The male appears to me to do most of the incubat- 

 ing, and hereabouts it is most often found at altitudes between 7,000 

 and 8,000 feet, but I have also taken it at much higher ones, where it 

 nests somewhat later." 



Mr. Skinner says in his notes : "On June 14, 1914, I discovered the 

 nest of a pair of Williamson sapsuckers in the gulch beside the trail 

 to Snow Pass at the beginning of the last ascent. The nest was in 

 an aspen trunk about 6 inches in diameter. The opening to the nest 

 was IV2 inches in diameter and located 5 feet above ground. On 

 June 30, 1915, the nest was in the same tree, but 2 feet above the 1914 

 nest and in a fresh opening." 



Eggs. — ^The eggs of Natalie's sapsucker do not differ materially 

 from those of the other race of the species. The measurements of 51 

 eggs average 23.60 by 17.41 millimeters; the eggs showing the four 

 extremes measure 26.2 by 17.9, 24.2 by 19.4, 21.5 by 17.0, and 22.0 by 

 16.0 millimeters. 



Young. — Mr. Skinner says in his notes that the young "seem to 

 arrive irregularly between June 10 and July 1. I have seen young 

 Williamson's sapsuckers hunting by themselves before August 10. 

 In the nest recorded above there were five young on June 14, 1914, 

 and both parents were kept constantly busy bringing food, and fre- 

 quently came so fast that one parent had to wait for the other to 

 leave the nest. In feeding the young the adults disappeared com- 

 pletely into the nest cavity and came out head first. In 1915 there 



