EXPLORATION IN UPPER CALIFORNIA IN .1860. 425 
BIRDS. 
-  Picus albolarvatus, (white-headed woodpecker.)—This bird is abundant in 
the high timber between Fort Crook, California, and Shasta Butte mountain. 
I saw it very seldom about inhabited places. It hunts, like all woodpeckers, 
in the bark of trees for insects, and generally in pairs, by commencing almost 
on the foot of the tree, moving in spiral circles up on the trunk, keeping from 
time to time a shrilling note to tell its companions its whereabouts. Its flight 
is an up-and-down movement, like that of most woodpeckers. I never saw it 
in pursuit of flies or insects in the air, like so many of its tribe. 
Prcus harrisiz, (Harris’s woodpecker.)—This species, in its habits, is closely 
allied to the first mentioned, except in not avoiding inhabited places, as I have 
often seen it in search of food on the pillar of my porch and adjoining fence. 
It wil frequently be seen moving downwards on a tree, keeping the body in 
an upright position and moving sideways and downwards—the head always 
up, never down, in these movemeats. Its notes are similar to, but sharper than, 
those of Picus albolarvatus, which it also resembles in flight. It seldom gives a 
note while engaged in search after insects, but generally, when leaving a tree, it 
repeats it untilit has alightedon another place. It inhabits this country during the 
whole year, and cares very little about bad weather. I have seen it in rainy and 
snowy days, and late in the evening, busily engaged in the destruction of worms 
and insects. 
. Collyrio borealis, (great shrike.)—This bird is generally to be seen on the 
borders of timber, about brush, where it will always select the highest dry 
branch. Very few are to be seen about Fort Crook, California, but in Shasta 
valley, about the cedar brush, near Sheep Rock, I found it quite abundant, 
and pugnacious as usual—at war with the larger birds to keep them away from 
its haunts, and the smaller ones to kill them for food. Birds and grasshoppers 
are its prey; of both killing more than it can consume, and fastening the “ sur- 
plus’’ to a thorn or brush, there leaving it to decay. Judging from the num- 
ber of crickets I saw transfixed to thorns, the sanguinary habits of this bird 
should be commended rather than condemned, as they prove useful agents in 
clearing the country of one of its greatest plagues. 
Certhia Mexicana, (Mexican creeper.)—This bird is very abundant in spring 
and fall about Fort Crook. I found it almost everywhere, and cannot say 
whether it prefers the vicinity of pine or of oak trees. Busy in its solitary 
movements, it would be seldom observed but for the frequent utterance of its 
lonely three notes, the first sharper than the two following. Its color corre- 
sponds very much with that of the bark of the trees. I always saw this bird 
moving upwards, never head downwards, and going in spiral circles or straight 
lines up a tree; instead of a kind of jumping, like woodpeckers, their movement 
on a tree is a kind of running. The approach of a man will not drive them off. 
I have often attempted to catch them with my hand. If accidentally seen by 
them, or if a shot be fired close by, it will often stop on the same spot for some 
time without giving a sign of life; at other times it will turn on the trunk of a 
tree on the same side, close to the intruder; but once started, its flight is quick. 
It is generally found in company with the titmouse and nuthatches. 
Sitta aculeata, (western nuthatch.)—This bird inhabits this part of country 
during the whole year, but is not so common or abundant as might be expected. 
I often travelled in the forest for whole days without observing one. They 
generally move in pairs, and will be noticed from a long distance by their 
singular “quak, quak.” It is amusing to see this little bird, so full of life 
and activity, moving upwards or downwards or sideways, on top or on the 
lower side of a limb; in fact, taking every imaginable position to secure ants 
and insects in or upon the scaly bark of trees. 
