THE RED BREASTED SAPSUCKER. 93 



in 1885. He located two pairs in a grove of alders, and another was found 

 excavating- a nesting site in a h'lg fir stul), fully 50 feet from the ground, on 

 April 10. They seemed to i)refer the orchards to the forests, although they 

 were often seen in the maples. He also observed it in Mai'ch near Ensenada, 

 Lower California. 



Ml-. R. H. Lawrence met with this species at Ridgefield, Washington, on 

 October 2, 1892. Mr. R. MacFarlane found it breeding near Fort St. James, 

 Stewart Lake, liritish Columbia, on May 25 and 31, 1889, and sent eggs of tliis 

 species, and also a young bird of the year, taken near Babine, somewhat far- 

 ther north, to the United States National Museum. It reaches the northern 

 limits of its breeding range in southern Alaska. A specimen taken on June 

 5, 1882, near P^ort Wrangel, by Mr. W. A. Jones, is now in the United States 

 National JMuseum collection. 



The following account is taken from my article on this species published 

 in "The Auk" (Vol. V, 1888, pp. 229-234), only a few changes being made in 

 the text : 



In my various travels throughout the interior of Oregon, Nevada, AVash- 

 ington, and Idaho, covering over fifteen years, I never met with this bird till 

 the summer of 1882, when I was ordered to take station at Fort Klamath, 

 located near the northern end of Klamath Lake, in the southwestern part of 

 Oregon. Here I found the Red-breasted Sapsucker an aljundant summer resi- 

 dent, and I have no doubt a few of these birds winter in the more sheltered 

 portions of the deep canyons of the lower Klamath River region. They ai'e 

 among the earliest birds to arrive in the spring. The first bird of this species 

 shot by me, in the spring of 1883, was oljtained on March 13, and I have seen 

 a few as late as November. On one of my collecting 'trips, the morning of 

 April 4, 1883, Avhile riding through a patch of pine tindjer, near Wood River, 

 the principal stream rnnning through the center of Klamatli A'alle\', I noticed 

 a flock of these birds, at least twenty In number. They were very noisy, appar- 

 ently glad to get back to their sunnner homes, and seemed to have an excellent 

 time generally, fl}'ing from tree to tree and calling to each other. 



As I wanted a couple of specimens, I was compelled to disturb their jol- 

 lification; those procnred were both males, and presumably the entire flock 

 belonged to this sex. By April 20 they had become very common, and some 

 pairs at least were mated and had already selected their future domiciles, in 

 every case a good-sized live aspen tree. Th,e males might at that time be heard 

 in almost all directions drumming on some dry limb, generally the dead top of 

 one of tliese trees. They scarcely seemed to do anything else. At least five 

 pairs nested within half a mile of my house, and I had excellent opportunities 

 to observe them. Some birds, apparently more Industrious than others, would 

 not be satisfied Avith one hole, and excavated several, sometimes all in the same 

 tree; others contented themselves with a single one. It Is possible that the 

 extra ones, after being begun, were abandoned, either being found to be too 

 damjt inside or for some otlier cause unknown to me; or they ma\- have been 



