2 34 Bendike on the Habits of Ihe Genus Sphyrapicus. [July 



Both sexes assist in incubation, which lasts from twelve to 

 fourteen days, I think. Their food consists principally of grubs, 

 larvaj of insects, various species of lepidoptera which they 

 catch on the wing, like Flycatchers, and berries. Of the latter 

 quite a number of difierent edible species are found about Fort 

 Klamath, and they seem to be especially fond of wild strawberries, 

 which grow there in abundance. The young after leaving the 

 nest stick to the tree in which they were hatched for the first day 

 or two, without venturing to fly. 



The beautiful carmine or crimson on the head and breast in 

 the adults is replaced by claret-brown in the young, varying in 

 amount and intensity in different individuals ; in some it is very 

 distinct and prevalent. The yellow so plainly noticeable on the 

 belly of adult birds is also wanting in the young. The colors 

 throughout are much duller and the general pattern less distinct. 

 By the latter part of September, the majority of these birds leave 

 for their winter haunts, only a few stragglers remaining. These 

 are possibly birds that breed further northward and winter in 

 the warm valleys of Northern California, and are then compara- 

 tively near the end of their migration, remaining in the Klamath 

 Valley region where there is always an abundance of food for 

 the Woodpecker family, judging from the number of different 

 species of these birds found there throughout the year, till the 

 heavy winter snows drive out the less hardy, amongst which the 

 Red-breasted Sapsucker must be included. 



While stationed at Fort Klamath, Oregon, I took especial 

 pains to collect a good series of both adult and young birds of 

 this species, as well as a number of sets of their eggs, and devoted 

 considerable time, at no little inconvenience to myself, to observe 

 their general habits closely. Although my personal observations 

 differ materially from those of other natui-alists (see 'History of 

 North American Birds,' by Baird, Brewer, and Ridgway, Vol. 

 II, pp. 544 and 545), I am confident that they will be found 

 substantially correct by future observers. The egg described 

 in the above-mentioned work, purporting to belong to this 

 species, certainly does not, and I also doubt very much that these 

 birds ever breed in coniferous ti-ees of any kind. 



