iSS6.] Scott on the Birds of Arizona. 4^7 



conspicuous in the young male. This gradually disappears with the first 

 moult, though I have taken young birds in October that still showed 

 traces of the red cap. 



85. Sphyrapicus varius nuchalis. Red-naped Sapsucker. — So far as 

 I am aware, this species is migratory and does not breed in the area under 

 consideration. Nor do many remain here during the winter months. 

 They begin to arrive early in September in the Catalina region, and are 

 at first mostly young birds of the year. During the months of October 

 and November they are particularly abundant, but are rarely seen in De- 

 cember or January, and though to be found in the succeeding spring 

 months, February, March, and April, they are not nearly so common then 

 as in the fall. 



Many of the adult birds have, in addition to the red nuchal band, char- 

 acteristic of the subspecies, a greater or less amount of red on the sides 

 of the head and on the face. 



86. Sphyrapicus thyroideus. Williamson's Woodpecker. — This 

 species I have found only in the pine region of the Catalina Mountains. 

 Even there it is not coirimon and is chiefly to be met with in fall, winter, 

 and very early in the spring. I did not find it in the pine woods of the 

 Catalinas in April, and do not think it breeds there. 



87. Melanerpes formicivorus bairdi. Californian Woodpecker. — 

 Common and resident in the mountain regions, both in pines and oaks, as 

 low as 4000 feet. It was abundant in the pine woods of the Pinal Moun- 

 tains late in November, 1S82. And it was among the more conspicuous 

 species in the pine forests of the Catalinas. The only record I have of its 

 breeding is in the Catalina Mountains, where I took a nest containing 

 three young, half-grown, on July 30, 18S4. This was at an altitude of 

 4700 feet. The nest was in a sycamore tree, fifty feet from the ground, in 

 a natural cavity- caused by decay. The entrance was where a small branch 

 had been broken oft", leaving a natural opening. 



88. Melanerpes torquatus. Lewis's Woodpecker. — An abundant 

 though irregular migrant in the Catalina Mountains at the lower altitudes, 

 and probably breeds in small numbers in the pine woods. If present in 

 the Pinal Mountains it escaped my notice. About my house it generallj' 

 appeared about the 20th of September, and some years was very abundant. 

 It stays us late as April 20, and then is not seen again till fall, though I 

 have seen the species in the pine region above me late in the spring. In 

 18S4, there was an unprecedented abundance of the species throughout the 

 entire region under consideration. Thev came in countless numbers about 

 the ranches, both on the San Pedro and near Tucson. Arriving early in 

 September, they did great injury to the fruit crops raised in these regions, 

 and I heard much complaint of them. In the oak woods they were equally 

 abundant, living almost altogether on acorns, but spending much of the 

 warmer portion of the day catching insects on the wing, very much as 

 any of the larger Flycatchers do, only that on leaving the perch of obser- 

 vation or rest, the flight is much more prolonged than in the Flycatchers 

 that I have seen. 



