BIRD NOTES AFIELD 



patch and lining of wings white. The red is much restricted and dulled 

 in the female, being confined upon the head to the crest, and the charac- 

 teristic red streak on the cheek of the male being absent. An inhabitant 

 of the remoter mountain regions. Length about one and a half feet. 



55. California Woodpecker; Melanerpes formicivorus bairdi 

 Ridgw. 



Related to the red-headed woodpecker of the eastern states, but 

 colors very different. General color of back black, with glossy bluish 

 luster. Rump and belly white, the sides streaked with black; a breast 

 patch of black ending in a black fringe on belly. Forehead white; chin 

 black, with a white patch encircling it, this generally tinged with sulphur 

 yellow. A crimson patch on the top of the head restricted in the female. 

 A showy and abundant species. Length, nine inches. 



56. Lewis's Woodpecker; Melanerpes torquatus (Wils.). 

 Coloration peculiar. Size large. General color greenish lustrous 



black. Head and face deep crimson. Collar around back of neck 

 gray; body gray below becoming reddish on belly, where it gradually 

 deepens to a pinkish red or crimson. 



57. Gila Woodpecker; Melanerpes urop^gialis (Baird). 



A Mexican form straying into the southeastern corner of the State. 

 Head gray; back barred with black and white. Under parts brownish 

 gray; belly yellowish. Crimson collar in the male. 



58. Gilded Flicker; Colaptes chrysoides (Malh.). 



A Mexican form straying into southeastern California. In general 

 like the common flicker or highhole of the east, with golden shafts, but 

 with the mustache red instead of black, and no red on top of the head. 



59. Red-shafted Flicker; Colaptes cafer collaris (Vigors). 



A very abundant and characteristic bird in all California wood- 

 lands. The western representative of the flicker, with which it com- 

 monly hybridizes in many localities. Large in size, a foot or more in 

 length. Large white rump-patch; the shafts of wing and tail-feathers 

 bright red. A conspicuous black crescentic patch on breast. Mustaches 

 scarlet in the male. Throat ash ; under parts pale vinaceous, with round 

 black dots ; upper parts pinkish brown, barred with black. In the north- 

 west coast region a darker race is distinguished as the Northwestern 

 Flicker (C. cafer saturatior, Ridgw.). 



GOATSUCKER FAMILY 



Mottled brown birds, largely nocturnal or crepuscular in habits, with 

 very weak bills and wide opening mouths, surrounded with bristles. 

 Insectivorous in habits, catching their food while on the wing. 



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