360 LAND BIRDS 
PLUMAGE CONSPICUOUSLY BLACK AND WHITE 
393c. HARRIS WOODPECKER. — Dryobates villosus 
harrisit. 
Famity: The Woodpeckers. 
Length: 9.00-10.00. 
Adult Male: Nape scarlet ; upper parts black, white stripe down the 
middle of the back ; wing-coverts lightly spotted with white; outer 
primaries with white spots; outer tail-feathers white ; under parts 
uniform gray, or pale grayish brown. 
Adult Female: Similar, but with no scarlet. 
Young: Like adult, but forehead spotted with white, and crown scarlet. 
Geographical Distribution: Pacific coast from Alaska south in winter as 
far as Monterey. 
Breeding Range: In California, only the extreme northern part of the 
humid coast belt. 
Breeding Season: April 15 to June 15. 
Nest : An excavation in a dead tree. 
Eggs: 4 to 5; glossy white. Size 0.98 X 0.70. 
THE breeding range of this species, according to Major 
Bendire, is very limited and is co-extensive with its geo- 
graphical distribution. It is a bird of the humid coast, 
Transition, and Canadian zones, only remaining resident 
in the northern part of California as far south as Hum- 
boldt Bay. In winter it wanders to Monterey along the 
humid coast belt. It corresponds in general habits to 
the hairy woodpecker of the north and east, which rids 
our orchards and forests of innumerable injurious larvee, 
such as those of the boring beetle, etc. The food of the 
Harris consists of spiders, ants, other insects, and cocoons, 
besides larvze, and sometimes acorns and seeds. 
It is one of the earliest of the woodpeckers to breed, 
the nest being completed in an old stump or dead tree 
as early as April. The nesting habits are described as 
