THE HARRIS WOODPECKER. 



421 



DR. COOPER judged the Harris to be the most abundant Woodpecker 

 in Western Washington: and tins, with the possible exception of the Flicker 

 (Colaptes cafcr saturatior), is still true. The bird \entures 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 deiiths uf the wonds. Althd he is resident the year 

 around we are quite likely ti) -35^^'" 



overlook his presence until 

 cold weather appears to quick- 

 en his pulses, and to send liini 

 careering noisily over the 

 tree-tops. He has spent the 

 night, it may be, in the heart 

 of a fir stub at the end <if his 

 winter timnel, and now he 

 covers a half- wooded pasture 

 witii great bounds of flight, 

 shouting, plick. plick. from 

 time t<i lime: and he gives a 

 I'lud rolling call — a do/^en of 

 these notes in swift succes- 

 sion — as he pulls u]) in the 

 top of a dead tree to begin 

 the day's wink. 



He is an active fellow. 

 hitching up (jr dropping down 

 the tree trunk with brusque 

 ease, and ])ublishing his i)rug 

 ress now and then in cheerful 

 tones. But he knows how to 

 be ])atient too. In the search 

 for hidden worms and bur- 

 rowing larv.-e it seems not im 

 ])rnbaljle that the Woodpecker 

 depends largely upon the 

 sense of iiearing — that he 

 practices auscultation, in fact. 



Fhjio hv H'-ldmaii and Finlcy. 

 H.\RUIS WOonPF.CKKK. 



A meditative tap, taj), is followed by a pause, 

 during which the bird apparently marks the effect of his strokes, noting the 

 rustle of a])prehension or attempted escaj^e 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 tiie reach of the bird's extensible tongue. But besides that which 



