PICID.E — THE WOODPECKERS. 545 



Mr. Audubon assigns to it the same distribution, but is only able to give 

 the information in regard to its habits which he derived from the observa- 

 tions of Mr. Nuttall, which, however, do not correspond with those of Dr. 

 Cooper. Mr. Nuttall states that this species, seen in the forests of the Co- 

 lumbia and the Blue Mountains, has most of the habits of the common Ked- 

 headed species. He concedes that it is less familiar, and that it keeps gen- 

 erally among the tall fir-trees, in the dead trunks of which it burrows out a 

 hole for a nest, sometimes at a great elevation. On approaching one that 

 was feeding its young in one of these situations, it uttered a loud reverber- 

 ating t 'rr, and seemed angry and solicitous at his approach. He adds that 

 this species also inhabits California, as well as the northwest coast up to 

 Nootka, and that it is found eastward as far as the central chain of the 

 Eocky Mountains. An egg taken from a nest which contained four was 

 1.25 in length and .75 of an inch in breadth. It was smooth, equally 

 rounded at both ends, though somewhat elongated, and pure white. 



We are confident that there must be some mistake in this statement. 

 The disproportion between tlie length and the breadth is unprecedented. 

 Even in the most oblong egg there is rarely so much as twenty-five per cent 

 difference. 



Dr. Cooper, in his Birds of California, speaks of it as rather a northern bird, 

 having seen none south of Santa Clara, and there only in the mountains of 

 the Coast Eange in early spring. 



Dr. Heermann found this form not at all rare in the Sierra Nevada Moun- 

 tains, and occasionally met a stray one among the valleys. Their call-note 

 was similar to the cry of a child in distress, and was very disagreeable. 

 In their quick, restless motions, and their untiring diligence in quest of food, 

 they resemble the rest of the Woodpecker family. 



It was noticed by Mr. Ridgway only on the Sierra Nevada, and he is not 

 certain that he saw it on the eastern slope of that range. 



Sphyropicus williamsoni, Baird. 



WILLIAMSON'S WOODPECKER. 



Picus xvilliamsoni, Newberry, Zool. California and Oregon Eoute, 89, P. R. R. Repts. 

 VI, 1857, pi. xxxiv, fig. 1. — SUNDEVALL, Consp. 32. Mclanerpes rubrigularis, ScL. 

 Annals and Mag. N. H. 3d series, I, Feb. 1858, 127. — Pr. Zool. Soc. 1858, 2, pi. cxxxi. 

 Sphyropicus williamsoni, Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 105, pi. xxxiv, f. 1. — CouES, Pr. 

 1866, 54. —Cass. P. A. N. S. 1863, 204. —Cooper, Orn. Cal. I, 1870, 393. Clado- 

 scopxis williamsoni, Cab. & Hein. Mus. Hein. IV, 1863, 82. Ilelanerpes william- 

 soni. Gray, Catal. Br. Mus. 1868, 116. 



Sp. Char. Rich black ; middle line of belly yellow ; central line of chin and throat 

 above red. A large patch on the wing, rump, and upper tail-coverts, a line from the fore- 

 head beneath the eye, and another from its upper border, white. Tail entirely black. Ex- 



voL. II. C9 



