PICID^ — THE WOODPECKERS. 507 



quent. They may also be seen clinging to the stalks of the sugar-cane, bor- 

 ing them, and evidently enjoying the sweet juices of that plant. 



Their flight is short and rapid, resemliling that of other allied species. 

 They are not social, never more than the members of one family being seen 

 together. They feed chiefly on insects and their larvie, often seizing the 

 former on the wing. In the autumn they occasionally eat berries, seeds, 

 and small fruit. Their notes are sharp and loud, uttered in monosyllables, 

 at times with great frequency. 



An egg of this species, taken in Eoxbury, Mass., is of a pure crystal white- 

 ness, oblong in shape, and equally rounded at either end, measuring 1.01 

 inches in length by .72 of an inch in breadth. Another, from Georgia, is 

 more rounded at one end, and measures 1.02 inches in length and .75 of an 

 inch in breadth. 



Picus villosus, var. haiTisi, Aud. 



HARRIS'S WOODPECKER. 



Picus harrisi, Aud. Orn. Biog. V, 1839, 191, pi. ccccxvii. — Ib. Syn. 1839, 178. — Ib. 

 Birds America, IV, 1842, 242, pi. cclxi (dark-bellied variety). — Nuttall, Man. I, 

 (2d. ed.,) 1840, 627. — Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 87. — Sundevall, Mon. 17.— 

 LOKD, Pr. K. Art. Ass. IV, 111 (nesting). — Coues, Pr. A. N. S. 1866, 52 (Oregon). 

 SuMiCHRAST, Mem. Bost. Soc. I, 1869, 562 (Alpine regions of Vera Cruz). — Gray, 

 Catal. 1868, 47. — Cabax. J. 1862, 175. — Cassin, P. A. N. S. 1863, 200. — Cooper 

 & Suck LEY, 159. — Cooper, Orn. Cal. I, 1870, 375. 1 Picus inornatus, Light. (Bon. 

 Consp.). Picics (Trichopicus) harrisi, Bp. Consp. Zyg. Aten. Ital. 1854, 8. Drijohates 

 harrisi, Cab. & Hein. Mus. Hein. IV, 2, 68 (jardini, 69.) Picus jardini, Malh. Rev. 

 Zobl. Oct. 1845, 374 (Mexico). —Cab. Jour. 1862, 175. Picus hyloscopus, Cab. & 

 Hein. Mus. Hein. IV, 2, 1863, 69 (white-bellied form). 



Sp. Char. Similar to typical villosus ; the innermost of the greater wing-coverts and 

 of the secondary quills without any white spots externally ; varying from this to the 

 entire absence of exposed white on wing except on the outer web of longest primaries. 

 Belly varying from pure white to smoky or fulvous gray, white of tail-feathers very 

 rarely blotched with black. Average length, in north, 9.00 ; wing, 5.00 ; exposed part of 

 culmen, 1.15. 



Yar. jardini much smaller. Length, 7.00; wing, 3.90; culmen, .85. 



Hab. Whole of -Western United States, west of the Missouri plains, extending into 

 Mexico and Central America, where it passes into the smallest and darkest southern ex- 

 treme, known as P. jardini. Localities : West Arizona (Coues, P. A. N. S. 1866, 52) ; 

 Vera Cruz, Alpine regions (Sumichrast, M. Bost. Soc. I, 1869, 562). 



In the preceding article we have given some general remarks on Harris's 

 Woodpecker, and shown why we cannot consider it a well-defined species. 

 If the specimens from the extreme west were constant in themselves, and the 

 variations, as with Colaptes hyhridus, occurred along the line of contact with 

 villosus, we might refer to hybrids many of the intermediate forms ; but as 

 scarcely any two are alike, even on the Pacific coast, such a view is inad- 

 missible. As, however, in the extreme limits of variation, there is yet a 



