eae 
CONSPICUOUSLY BLACK AND WHITE 865 
Adult Female: Like male, but with no scarlet on head. 
Young: Like male, but nape black and crown red ; under parts barred 
with black. 
Geographical Distribution: Southern Oregon and California in Upper 
Sonoran zone, west of the Sierra Nevada and east of the humid coast 
belt. 
Breeding Range: Same as Geographical Distribution. 
Breeding Season: April and May. 
Nest : In dead branches or beneath the bark of stumps. 
Eggs: 3to6; white. Size 0.94 X 0.69. 
THE Nuttall Woodpecker breeds west of the Sierra 
Nevada throughout the greater portion of California, 
being most abundant in the southern part of its range. 
In nesting it prefers the oak trees, digging a cavity eight 
inches deep, about twenty feet from the ground. Mr. 
Beck, of Berryessa, California, records it as breeding in 
the mountains east of Santa Clara County, and in one 
instance occupying a limb in a sycamore tree where a 
pair of red-shafted flickers had their nest. Occasionally 
it chooses elders, willows, and giant cactuses. Nesting 
commences early in April, and after the pearly white eggs 
are laid both adults share in the incubation, which lasts 
fourteen days. The young remain in the nest three to 
four weeks, and after leaving return each night to sleep 
in it. Both parents defend their nest and young with 
ereat courage, the mother sometimes allowing herself to 
be taken on the nest rather than leave it. Their food 
consists of insects, larvee, berries, and fruit. 
The call of the Nuttall Woodpecker is described as a 
series of loud rattling notes entirely unlike those of any 
other woodpecker. In habits it resembles Gairdner’s 
woodpecker ; but its choice of locality is quite different, 
as it prefers a higher altitude and is seldom found along 
streams. 
