NESTS AND EGGS OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 91 



The Goldenvvinged Woodpecker is a bird of the woodland, and nests in 

 the manner of others of its family; most frequently in a dead trunk at con- 

 siderable height from the ground. It is generally excavated by the birds, 

 though not unfrequently the eggs are laid within a natural cavity. The 

 bird has several popular names: Yellow-hammer, High-holder, Wake-up, 

 Yucker, and Flicker. 



Hab. Eastern North America, keeping pretty straight to the npper Missouri, where it becomes mixed 

 with C. a. mexicaiiKS. 



378^. Red-shafted Flicker — col.'^ptes auratus mexicanus. Pure 

 glossy white ; eggs and nesting habits same as those of the Yellow- 

 shafted Flicker. 



Hab. Western North America, mostly replacing the Golden wing Woodpecker from the Rocky Mountains 

 to the Pacific. 



382. Belted Kingfisher — ceryle alcyon. Clear shining white, nearly 

 spherical in shape ; when the full complement is complete it usually 

 numbers seven, sometimes eight; size 1.35 by i. A tunnel for the nest 

 four, six or eight feet in length, either straight or elbowed, is dug by the 

 bird in the face of a high bank of a stream and often in a gravel-pit, where 

 also the Bank Swallow is found nesting. The entrance is usually within a 

 couple of feet below the top of the bank. The eggs are deposited in the 

 midst of fish bones. This is the familiar bird whose rattling notes are 

 heard along our streams. It can be seen perched upon the lower branches 

 of a tree overhanging the water, or on the top of a dead stump ; these 

 places furnish a favorite outlook, from which it plunges beneath the water 



to secure its prey. Hab. North America, common everywhere. 



383. Texan Kingfisher — ceryle Americana cabanisi. Pure crystal- 

 white, very thin and smooth, like porcelain; rounded-oval in shape; four 

 to six in number and measure from .90 to i. in length by .68 to .75 in 

 breadth. Like the bird, considerably smaller than those of C. alcyon. Nest- 

 ing same. Hab. Valleysof the Lower Rio Grande and Colorado, southward. 



385. Road-runner ; Chaparral Cock — geococcyx californianus. 

 Dirty-white ; the complement of eggs ranges from two to nine in number, 

 with an average size of 1.55 by 1.20. The Ground Cuckoo, Snake Killer 

 or Paisano, as it is differently called, is a curious bird, noted for its swift- 

 ness of foot. It is found in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California, 

 southward. It nests in low trees, usually in the low branches of a cactus 

 or in a thorny bush. The structure is thick and clumsy, with but a slight 

 depression for the eggs. The latter appear to be deposited at intervals of 

 several days, and a perfectly fresh ^^^ is often found with one on the 

 point of hatching. 



