Ne THE LEWIS WOODPECKER. 
Nesting.—Nest: in hole excavated in dead tree, usually at considerable 
height. Eggs: 5-9, white, slightly glossed. Av. size, 1.03 x .80 (26.2 x 20.3). 
Season: third week in May to first week in June; one brood. 
General Range.—Western United States from the Black Hills and the 
Rocky Mountains to the Pacific, and from southern British Columbia to southern 
Alberta, south to Arizona, and (in winter) western Texas. Casual in Kansas 
CeEOxUn yr 
Range in Washington.—Summer resident in timbered sections (Arid Tran- 
sition and lower Canadian life-zones) east of the Cascades; especially partial to 
cottonwood timber lining the larger streams; locally distributed or colonizing 
west of the mountains, chiefly in burns. 
Authorities.—|Lewis and Clark, Hist. Ex. (1814), Ed. Biddle; Coues, Vol. 
Il., p. 187]. Melanerpes torquatus, Bonap. Baird, Rep. Pac. R. R. Surv. IX., 
iiteisten joe Wid, 1h (CleaSh ILZS IDs Ie Izy, IDM, Sis See INI, JJ, 1B 18, 
Specimens.—U. of W. P. Prov. C. E. 
NOT the least strange of the many new creatures discovered by a famous 
expedition of a hundred years ago was this curious black Woodpecker, which 
Wilson named torquatus (collared), but which soon became known by the 
name of the intrepid leader, Captain Meriwether Lewis. In habit and appear- 
ance the bird combines Crow, Jay, Woodpecker, Flicker, and Flycatcher. It 
is perhaps as flycatcher that we know him best, as we see him sail out from 
the summit of a cottonwood or towering pine-tree and make connection with 
some object to us invisible. If the insects are flying freely, the bird may 
conclude to remain aloft for a few minutes, fluttering about in great watchful 
circles, ready for momentary dashes and adroit seizures. A dozen of his 
fellows may be similarly engaged in the same vicinity, for Lewis is ever a 
sociable bird, and when he returns to his perch he will raise a curious raucous 
twitter, a rasping, grating, obstructed sound, which is his best effort at either 
conversation or song. 
In passing from tree to tree the Woodpecker presents a Crow-like appear- 
ance, for it moves with a labored, direct flight, which is quite different from 
the bounding gait so characteristic of many of its real kinfoll. In alighting, 
also, the bird is as likely to bring up on top of a limb, in respectable bird- 
fashion, as to try clinging to the tree trunk. 
Lewis Woodpeckers are rather wary, and if one starts out to secure a 
specimen, he is surprised to note how the birds manage to edge off while still 
out of range, and to fly away across the tree-tops rather than trust them- 
selves to the lower levels. It is well worth one’s while to examine a specimen, 
because of the exceptional character of the bird’s plumage. The hoary ash 
of the collar contrasts strikingly with the glossy green of the upperparts, 
while the rich crimson, mingled with ashy, below, serves to emphasize the 
extraordinary hair-like character of the feathers themselves. If it had been 
