421 
DR. COOPER judged the Harris to be the most abundant Woodpecker 
in Western Washington; and this, with the possible exception of the Flicker 
(Colaptes cafer saturatior), is still true. The bird ventures well out upon 
the eastern slopes of the Cascade Mountains, and is found sparingly in the 
higher mountain valleys; but his favorite resorts are burns and the edges of 
clearings, rather than the depths of the woods. Altho he is resident the year 
around we are quite likely to \ 
overlook his presence until 
cold weather appears to quick- 
en his pulses, and to send him 
careering noisily over the 
tree-tops. He has spent the 
night, it may be, in the heart 
of a fir stub at the end of his 
winter tunnel, and now he 
covers a half-wooded pasture | 
with great bounds of flight, 
shouting, plick, plick, from 
time to time; and he gives a 
loud rolling call—a dozen ot 
these notes in swift succes- 
sion—as he pulls up in the 
top of a dead tree to begin 
the day’s work. 
He is an active fellow. 
hitching up or dropping down 
the tree trunk with brusque 
ease, and publishing his prog- 
ress now and then in cheerful 
tones. But he knows how to 
be patient too. In the search 
for hidden worms and_ bur- 
rowing larvee it seems not 1m- 
probable that the Woodpecker 
depends largely upon the Taken im Oregon. 
sense of hearing—that he 
practices auscultation, in fact. A meditative tap, tap, is followed by a pause, 
during which the bird apparently marks the effect of his strokes, noting the 
rustle of apprehension or attempted escape on the part of the hidden morsel. 
It is not unusual for the bird to spend a half hour tunneling for a single taste, 
and even then the wary game may withdraw along some tunnel of its own, 
even beyond the reach of the bird’s extensible tongue. But besides that which 
Photo by Bohlman and Finley. 
HARRIS WOODPECKER. 
