44-' THE LEWIS \\'0()DI'Kck\K. 



Nesting. -.Vr.v/. in Imli- i-xcavati-il in lU-ad trri-, usually at considerable 

 lu'ijjlit. lii/i/s: •,-*). white, sHkIuIv glossed. Av. size, i.o,^ x .So ( j^».j x 20.3 i. 

 Si-asoii: third week in May to first week in June: one l»r(Mid. 



General Range. — Western I'nited States from the I'.Iack Hills and the 

 Koiky .Mountain^ to the Pacific, and from southern I'ritish Columbia to southern 

 .\lberta. soulii l" \ri/ioia. ami (in winter) western Texas. Casual in Kansas 

 (.\. (). r.). 



Range in Washington. Summer resilient in timberetl sections (Arid Tran- 

 sition and lower Canadian life-zones) cast of the Cascades; es|)ecially ]>artial to 

 Cottonwood tindier lining the larger streams; locally distributed or colonizing 

 west of the motmtains, chiefly in burns. 



Authorities.— [Lewis and Clark, Hist. Kx. ( 1S141. Kd. I'.iddle : Cones, \ol. 

 II., p. 187]. Mclaiierf<cs toiiiiiatiis. llonap. Baird, Kep. I'ac. K. K. Snr\ . l.\.. 

 185S, p. ii(>. T. C&S. I.--. I)'. Kb. ka. I)-. Ss'. Ss--. Kk. I. I'.. II. 



Specimens. — ['. of W. I'. I'rov. C. K. 



.\( )T llie least strange of the many new creatures discoxered by a famous 

 exi)e(lition of a liuiidred years ago was this curious black W'oiMlpeckcr, which 

 Wilson named torqiuiliis (collared I, but which soon became known by the 

 name of the intrepid leader, Ca])taiii Meriwether Lewis. In habit and aiJjR'ar- 

 ancc the bird combines Cnnv. Jay, Woodpecker, I'licker, and Flycatcher. It 

 is ])erlia|)s as llycalcher that we know him best, as we see him sail out from 

 the summit of a Cottonwood or towering pine-tree and make conneclio-.i with 

 some object to us invisible. If the insects are flying freely, the bird mav 

 conclude to remain aloft for a few minutes, fluttering about in great watch fnl 

 circles, ready for momentary dashes and ailroit seizures. .\ dozen of his 

 fellows may be similarly engaged in the same vicinity, for Lewis is ever a 

 sociable bird, and when he returns to bis perch he will raise a curious raucous 

 twitter, a rasping, grating, obstructed soimd. which is his best etTort at either 

 conversation or song. 



In pa.ssing from tree to tree the Woodpecker presents a Crow-like api>ear- 

 ance. for it moves with a labored, direct flight, which is (|uile difVerent from 

 the bounding gait so characteristic of many of its real kinfolk. In alighting, 

 also, the bird is as likely to bring up on top of a limb, in respectable bird- 

 fashion, as to try dinging to the tree trunk. 



Lewis \\'ood|)eckers are rather wary, and if one starts out to secure a 

 .s|K'ciinen, he is surprised to note how the birds manage to c<lge 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 w<>rth one's while to examine a specimen, 

 iK'cause <»f the exceptional character of the bird's iilumage. 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 

 cxtraordinarv hair-like character of the feathers themselves. If it had been 



