TTIE RED SIlAFTKl) FLICKER. 135 



soutliwesteni Ixu'dcrof tlic Doniiiiidn of Canada, east of tlic Cascade Moimtains. 

 It is a resident thnmgliont tlie (greater part i>f its ran<;-e, exceptinjj;' the more 

 northern portions, wintering- reguhirly in tlie vicinity of Fort WaUa Walbi, Wnsh- 

 ing'ton, in latittide 4()°, and it is pretty generally distril)uted, heing as nnicli at 

 home in tlie higher lununtain ranges np to altitndes of about 10,(100 feet, as in 

 the lower and nmeh hotter valleys among" the timbered bottom lands. As 

 already stated, this species intergrades extensively with the preceding one along 

 the eastern liorders of its range, and typical specimens are not nnconnnoi\lv mc't 

 with in western Kansas, western Nebraska, and s(nithwestern Sonth Dakota: 1mt 

 as transiti(»n forms, or so-called "h3'brids," predominate largely here, I do not 

 inclnde these sections in their range proper, considering them as nentral gronnd 

 on which tA'pical specimens of lioth species are aljont eqnallv common. 



Its breeding range is nearly coextensive with its geographical distril)ntion. 

 It appears to be an eqnallv common snmmer resi<lent on the Mexican table-lands 

 as in the western United States. Here, however, it is not met with in summer 

 in the lower Rio Grande Valley, nor throughout the di-v and arid portions 

 in the western parts of Texas and similar regions in southern New ]\Iexico 

 and Arizona, where it rarely breeds below altitudes of 6,000 feet. Mr. W. A. 

 Anthonv met with it in tlie San Pedro Martir Mountains, in Lower California, in 

 summer, at altitndes of from 7,000 to 10,000 feet, evidently nesting; and near the 

 coast, in winter, as low as o,000 feet. I found this handsome bird a common 

 summer resident nearly everywhere throughout the West, from eastern Montana- 

 west through Idalio, Oregon, Washington, and Nevada, to California, and an 

 abundant Avinter resident in the vicinity of Tucson, southern Arizona, wlien^ 

 it unquestionablv breeds in the pine belt in the higher mountains. 



In its g-eneral habits, food, call notes, etc., the Red-shafted Flicker resembles 

 the preceding species very closely, and I have been nnaiile to detect any notable 

 differences. It is a trifle larger bird than the preceding, and in certain sections 

 appears to lie rather more partial to extensive forests than its ea.stern relative. 

 Its nesting habits are also quite similar, and it adapts itself readilv to the condi- 

 tions found in its surroundings. Its favorite nesting sites are old rotten stubs 

 or trees, such as cotton woods, willows, svcamores, junipers, oaks, and pines. 

 It nests also in liolcs in lianks, in the sides of houses, in gate posts, etc. In tlie 

 more northern portions of its range the migrants usually return to tlieir Ijreeding 

 grounds during the last week in March or the beginning of April. Nidification 

 begins about the 1st of ^lav, and full sets of fresh eggs iiiav be lo()ke(l for aliout 

 the middle of that month. '^I^lie earliest set found by me, one <if ciglit eggs, was 

 on May 4, 1871, near Fort Lapwai, Idalio; the latest, oiu^ of seven eggs, on .Juuo. 

 6, 1875, near Canqi Harney, Oregon. In southern California, thev nest mo.stlv in 

 April, and here, I\Ir. F. Stejihens writes me, ''the Red-shafted Flicker is a connnon 

 resident; I find it from sea level to the upper limits of timber, auA'where Avhere 

 trees occur. It often feeds on ants and insects picked from the ground." One 

 brood onl\' is iisualK' raiseil in a season; but I belie\'e an occasional pair of early 

 nesting birds i-aises two. Among some j)ecnliar nesting sites of this s|)('cics the 

 foUowiiii'- deserve mention: 



