366 LAND BIRDS 
399. WHITE-HEADED WOODPECKER. — Xenopicus 
albolarvatus. 
Famity : The Woodpeckers. 
Length: 8.90-9.40. 
Adult Male: Head, neck, upper part of chest, and patch on the wing, 
white ; nape bright scarlet ; rest of plumage black. 
Adult Female: Similar to male, but with no scarlet. 
Young: Similar to male, but scarlet on crown instead of on nape. 
Geographical Distribution: Mountains of the Pacific coast, including 
both slopes of the Sierra Nevada, from Washington to Southern 
California. 
Breeding Range: The Sierra Nevada and Cuyamaca mountains to Mt. 
Shasta. 
Breeding Season: May. 
Nest: 4 to 18 feet from the ground, in stumps. 
Eggs: 4 to 7; crystalline white. Size 0.96 0.75. 
THE range of the White-headed Woodpecker in Cali- 
fornia is restricted to higher mountain ranges from Ore- 
gon to Southern California. It is common in the fir 
forests of the Sierra Nevada from four thousand feet 
nearly to the summit, seldom descending to a lower 
altitude than three thousand feet. His conspicuous 
white head makes him recognized by the veriest tyro 
in bird lore. One would suppose this feature would 
make him an easy mark for hunters, but in reality 
there is an effect of protective coloring in the very 
sharpness of the contrasting black and white, — the 
one standing out so strongly in the light as to make 
the other seem part of the shadow and not of the bird. 
This is emphatically a silent bird, particularly in the 
winter. Even during the breeding season in the Sierra 
Nevada, I have never heard it utter more than a sharp 
