Voi.^XXXlj j^ocKWELL AND Wetmore, Birds of Golden, Colorado. 317 



19. Melanerpes erythrocephalus. Red-headed Woodpecker.— 

 An adult male was taken on Lookout Mountain at 7500 feet on May 23, 

 and on June 6 others were seen in a vaUey near by preparing to breed. 

 They were not as common however as they were along the streams on the 

 plains. A small series of Colorado birds appears to have the bill averaging 

 a trifle more slender than average Kansas specimens, otherwise there is 

 apparently no difference between the two. 



20. Asyndesmus lewisi. Lewis's Woodpecker.— Fairly common 

 in the foothills. Our first record was made May 16, when an adult male was 

 taken, and afterward they were seen all through the spring and summer, 

 up to October 16, which is the last date on which they were noted. They 

 usually frequented rather barren hillsides where they perched in dead pines 

 to watch for passing insects, which they captured after the fashion of a 

 great awkward flycatcher. Once or twice we heard them give a ratthng 

 caU not unUke that of Centurus carolinus, in the spring, but as a rule they 

 are silent. By the last of July their family duties were over, and the 

 birds were then found in parties of half a dozen or more and continued m 

 these flocks well into September, until time for migration. 



21. Colaptes cafer collaris. Red-shafted Flicker.— This was the 

 only common woodpecker seen. They winter commonly on the plains, 

 and on April 1 1 one was seen excavating a nesting hole at 7000 feet. They 

 nested from the plains to the top of Lookout Mountain and were common 

 during the summer, nests with young being found June 6. A Red-shafted 

 FUcker buUt its nest between the clap-board siding and the lath and plaster 

 inside wall of one of the cottages on Lookout Mountain. Upon its becom- 

 ing a nuisance the hole it had made through the clap-board was repeatedly 

 covered with a piece of wood nailed over the opening, but in each case the 

 parent flicker promptly bored through the obstruction. This nest was 

 separated only by a two-by-four beam from a cosy nest which had recently 

 been occupied by a mountain rat (Plate XXXII, fig. 1). Durmg Septem- 

 ber and October they were found in small flocks and spent much time 

 searching the crevices of the rocks for insects. One specimen hr.s all but 

 two rectrices colored as in C. a. luteus. 



22. Phal»noptilus nuttalli nuttalli. Poorwill.— Two of these 

 birds were seen May 23, and one was taken. The first one was on a steep 

 rocky hillside, covered with brush at about 7,000 feet. The bird flushed a 

 few feet away, flying for a short distance with an irregular wing beat and 

 then settled into a steady flapping rather owl-like flight. When ahght- 

 ing it darted suddenly to the ground, usually in an open space. The 

 second was flushed higher up, just below the top of Lookout Mountain. 

 It flew out from under a flat rock where it had taken refuge from a heavy 

 sleet storm. This bird disappeared among the pines and we could not find 

 it again. Mr. E. J. Oslar says that he has found them rather frequently 

 in Coon Gulch where they probably breed occasionally. The single bird 

 taken is typical P. n. nuttalli. 

 23. Chordeiles virginianus henryi. Western Nighthawk.— 



