116 LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



Oregon; I never met with this bird in southeastern Oregon, and know that it 

 does not occur there. 



Mr. J. K. Lord, the naturalist of the British Boundary Commission, on 

 Mav 25, 18G0, observed this species on the head waters of the Deschutes River, 

 Oregon, also on the eastern slopes of the Cascades, among a mixed growth of 

 pines and oaks. The latter are found here only in a few localities, and are not 

 generally distributed through this region. He does not claim to have met 

 this species in Washington, and is misquoted in "History of North American 

 Birds" (Vol. II, 1874, p. 5G8). 



Viewed from an economic standpoint, the Californian Woodpecker deserves 

 protection, as it is unquestionably more beneficial than otherwise. The small 

 amount of fruit it steals during a season is fully paid for by the insects and 

 their larvjie it destroys at the same time. 



In the more southern portions of its range nidification commences some- 

 times as early as April, and somewhat later farther north. The nesting sites 

 are mostly excavated in white-oak trees, both living and dead, but preferably 

 one of the former is selected in which the core of the tree is decayed. It also 

 nests occasionally in sycamores, cottonwoods, and large willow trees, and more 

 rarely in telegraph poles. Both sexes assist in the excavation of the nesting 

 site, as well as in incubation. The entrance hole is about If inches in diameter, 

 perfectly circular, and is sometimes chiseled through 2 or 3 inches of solid 

 wood before the softer and decayed core is reached. The inner cavity is grad- 

 ually enlarged as it descends, and varies from 8 to 24 inches in depth, usually 

 being from 4 to 5 inches in diameter at the bottom, where a quantity of the fine 

 chips are allowed to remain, on which the eggs are deposited. In the Rogue 

 River Valley the nesting season is at its height about the latter part of May, and 

 full sets of fresh eggs may be looked for here about the 20th of that month. 

 I have seen the parents here carrying food in their bills to the young, and I 

 believe they are mostly fed in this way. The number of eggs laid to a set is 

 usually four or five, rarely more. Mr. F. H. Fowler, Fort Bowie, Arizona, 

 writes me that he has taken a set of ten, saying, however, "evidently the 

 product of two females." 



Like the eggs of all Woodpeckers, they are pure white in color; the shell 

 is fine grained and not nearly as glossy as in the eggs of the preceding species. 

 They are mostly short ovate in shape, a few only being elongate ovate. 



The average measurement of nineteen specimens in the United States 

 National Museum collection is 25.40 by 19.05 millimetres, or 1.00 by 0.75 inch. 

 The largest egg measures 26.42 by 19.81 millimetres, or 1.04 by 0.78 inches; the 

 smallest, 24.38 by 18.29 millimetres, or 0.96 by 0.72 inch; and a runt egg, 19.05 

 by 13.21 millimetres, or 0.75 by 0.52 inch. 



The type specimen, No. 19414 (not figured), Bendire collection, from a set 

 of four eggs, was taken by the writer near Ashland, Oregon, on June 15, 1883. 



