518 



NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



Outermost tail- Outermost tail- 

 feather of Picus feather of Picus 



Habits. This species belongs to our southern and southwestern fauna, 

 entering our borders from Mexico, occurring from the valley of the Eio 

 Grande to Southeastern California, and the slopes of 

 the Rocky Mountains south of the 35th parallel. 

 It is found throughout Mexico to Yucatan and Gua- 

 temala. 



Dr. Samuel Cabot obtained a single specimen of 

 this bird at Yucatan, which he described under the 

 name of P. parvus, in the Boston Journal of Natural 

 History, V, p. 92. It was procured early in Decem- 

 ber, 1841, in the neighborhood of Ticul, Yucatan. 

 Dr. Kennerly considered it a not uncommon species 

 in the vicinity of Boca Grande ; especially wherever 

 there were large trees. The same naturalist, in his 

 Report on the birds of Lieutenant Whipple's exj)edi- 

 tion, states that he very often saw this bird near 

 San Antonio, Texas, as well as during the march 



scalaris. nuttaUi. 



several hundred miles west of that place, but that, 

 after leaving the Rio Grande, he did not meet with it until he reached the 

 head-waters of Bill Williams Fork. From tlience to the Great Colorado 

 River he saw it frequently, wherever there was any timber; but it was 

 very shy, alighting on the tops of the leafless cotton-wood trees, and keep- 

 ing a vigilant lookout. 



Dr. Heermann, in his Report on the birds of Lieutenant J. G. Parke's 

 expedition, states that he observed this Woodpecker in the southernmost 

 portion of California, and found it more and more abundant as he advanced 

 towards Texas, where it was quite common. The same naturalist, in his 

 Report on the birds of Lieutenant Williamson's expedition, remarks that he 

 procured this bird first at Vallicita, but found it abounding in the woods 

 about Fort Yuma. He considered the species as new to the California 

 fauna, though frequently seen in Texas, several of the exj)editions having 

 collected it. 



Dr. Woodhouse, in his Report on the birds of Sitgreaves's expedition to 

 the Zuni and the Colorado speaks of finding this beautiful little Woodpecker 

 abundant in Texas, east of the Pecos River. During his stay in San An- 

 tonio and its vicinity, he became quite familiar with it. It was to be seen, 

 at all times, flying from tree to tree, and lighting on the trunk of the mes- 

 quites {Algarobia), closely searching for its insect-food. In its habits and 

 notes, he states, it much resembles the common Hairy Woodpecker. Dr. 

 Woodhouse elsewliere remarks that he did not meet with this bird west of 

 the Rio San Pedro, in Texas. In regard to its breeding-habits, so far as I am 

 aware, they are inferred rather than known. It is quite probable they are 

 not unlike those of the Picus puhcscens, which it so closely resembles. The 

 eo-u's in the collection of the Smithsonian were obtained with the collections 



