428 Tin-: \viiiiiMii:\i)iii) wooiJ^kckkk. 



consiMciioiis o>l<irs iiixk-r oiir intcrinr sun. and claims that the bird gains 

 inattention from its very iniliinllikcness. Dr. Merrill, who made a most 

 satisfactory study of this species near I'ort Klamath in Oregon, re>;ards the 

 bird in winter as the very sinnilacnini of a broken branch strongly shadf)\ved, 

 anil crowned with snow. 



Concerning its food habits. Dr. Merrill says^ : "I have rarely heard 

 the \\'oo<l|)ccker hammer, and even tapjiing is rather imcommon. So far 

 as I have observeil, and dining the winter I watclie<l it carefully, its principal 

 supply of food is obtained in the bark, most of the pines having a very 

 rough bark, scaly and deeply fissured. The bird uses its bill as a crowbar, 

 r.ither than as a hammer or chisel. pr\ ing olT the successive scales an«l layers 

 of bark in a very characteristic way. This ex|>lains the fact of its l>eing 

 such a cpiiet worker, and. as would be expected, it is most often seen 

 near the base of the tree, where the bark is thickest and roughest. It 

 must destroy immense numbers of Sculytiihc. whose larva' tunnel the bark 

 so extensively, and of other insects that crawl beneath the scales of bark 

 for shelter during winter. I have several times imitated the work of this 

 bird b\- l)rying olT the successive layers of bark, and have been astonished 

 at the great number of insects, and especially of sjjiders, so ex|)<iscd. .\s 

 a result of this, anil of its habit of so searching for footl. the White-headed 

 Woodpeckers killed here were loaded with fat to a degree I have never 

 seen e(|ualled in any land bird, and scarcely surpassed by some Sandpipers 

 in autumn." 



The White-headed Woodpecker is a f|uiet bird in manner and voice. I 

 have never heard it utter a sound even in the i)resence of a nest robber 

 but it is said to have "a sharp, clear ''>i-itt-'U'itt' " which it uses after the 

 fashion of the Harris Woodpecker, when it llies from tree to tree. The 

 bird is quite wary ; but when it cherishes suspicions, it flies away com- 

 IHjscdly, with no such air of ostentatious offense as Harris inilulges on 

 occasion. 



The first nest reported from this Slate was found on Jidy _'_'nd. iSi»'), 

 in the valley of the .Metlunv, where this Woodpecker is not at all common. 

 The entrance showed like a clean-cut augur Ivdc, one and five-eighths inches 

 in <liamcter, driven in a live pine: and was reached conveniently from horse- 

 back. Four fresh eggs lay on a bed of chips, some eight inches down, antl 

 they were remarkable only for a somewhat uniforiu distribution of sparse, 

 black spots, — probably dots of adherent i)itch. derived from the chips, and 

 soiled to blackness by contact with the sitting bird. 



a. The Auk. Vol. V.. 1888. p. JSJ 



