WOODPECKERS 203 



Fo*d. Mainly injurious larvae and insect eggs, with small berries and 

 seeds, pinon nuts, pine seeds, and acorns. 



393e. D. V. monticola Anthony. ROCKY MOUNTAIN HAIRY 

 WOODPECKER. 



Like hyloscopus, but larger, clearer white below, and with lores chiefly 

 or wholly black. Male : wing 5.23, tail 4, bill from nostril 1.12. Female : 

 wing 5.04, tail 3.80, bill from nostril .95. 



Remarks. The Rocky Mountain woodpecker is equal in size and inter- 

 grades with the northern hairy, but typical specimens of each can be dis- 

 tinguished by the unspotted wing coverts and tertials of the Rocky Moun- 

 tain bird. 



Distribution. Rocky Mountain region of the United States from New 

 Mexico to Montana ; west to Utah. 



Food. Moths, wood-boring beetles, ants, other insects, and spiders. 



394a. Dryobates pubescens gairdnerii (Aud.). GAIRDNER 



WOODPECKER. 1 



Adult male. Upper parts black, with dingy whitish forehead, scarlet 

 nape, and white stripe down back ; middle and 

 greater wing coverts plain black, or only lightly 

 spotted with white ; outer tail feathers white, 

 barred with black ; under parts smoky gray or F j g 270. 



light smoke brown. Adult female: similar, but 



without scarlet on nape. Young : similar, but with red of nape extending 

 partly or wholly over crown. Length: 6.25-7-00, wing 3.55-4.15, tail 

 2.30-2.70, bill .70-.80. 



Remarks. The black barring on the outer tail feathers and the small 

 size of D. p. gairdnerii distinguish it from D. villosus harrisii, while its 

 smoky under parts and barred tail feathers distinguish it from D. p. ho- 

 morus, and its lack of conspicuous wing covert spotting from D. p. me- 

 dianus. 



Distribution. From British Columbia south to southern California ; 

 east beyond the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada and Cascade ranges. 



Nest . 4 to 20 feet from the ground in deciduous trees or old stumps. 



Eggs : 4 or 5, white. 



Food. Noxious insects and larvae, ants, caterpillars, and scale insects. 



The Gairdner woodpecker is the Pacific coast form of the downy, 

 and though smaller resembles the hairy in appearance and habits. 

 It is less solitary and less a bird of the forest than the hairy, being 

 found in willows and along streams in the foothills, and in settled 

 districts in orchards, where it does incalculable good by making way 

 with wood-borers that ruin the trees. 



394b. D. p. homorus (Cab.). BATCHELDER WOODPECKER. 



Like gairdnerii but larger, except for the feet, which are relatively 



1 Dryobates pubescens turati (Malh.)- WILLOW WOODPECKER. 



Like gairdnerii but smaller, with lighter under parts and spotted tertials. 



Distribution. Upper Sonoran and Transition zones of California except : desert 

 ranges east of Sierra Nevada, including east slope of Sierra (?) coast region north of 

 Mendocino County and region north of upper end of Sacramento valley. (The Condor, 

 iv. 68.) 



