518 



NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



Habits. Tliis species belongs to our southern and southwestern fauna, 

 entering our borders from Mexico, occurring from tlie valley of the Rio 



Grande to Soutlieastern California, and the slopes of 

 the liocky Mountains south of the .Soth parallel. 

 It is found throughout Mexico to Yucatan and Gua- 

 temala. 



Dr. Samuel Cabot obtained a single specimen of 

 this bird at Yucatan, which he described under tlie 

 name of P. jtarrus, in tlie Boston Journal of Natural 

 Histor}', V, p. 92. It was procured early in Decem- 

 ber, lvS41, in the neighV)orhood of Ticul, Yucatan. 

 Dr. Kennerly considered it a not uncommon species 

 in the vicinity of IJoca ( htinde ; especially wherever 

 there were large trees. The same naturalist, in his 

 Keport on the birds of Lieutenant ^Vhipl)le's expedi- 

 tion, states that he very often saw this l)ird near 



Ihitennost tail- Outermost tail- . , 



feather of p,c«s feather of p/ci« Sau Autouio, Tcxas, i\s wcU as duriu^ the march 



scalaris. 



nuttalli. 



several hundred miles west of that place, but that, 

 after leaving the llio Grande, he ditl not meet with it until he reached the 

 head- waters of Bill Williams Fork. From tlience to the Great Colorado 

 River he saw it frequently, wherever there was any timber; but it was 

 very shy, alighting on the tops of the leafless cotton-wood trees, and keep- 

 ing a vigilant lookout. 



Dr. Heermann, in his Report on the birds of Lieutenant J. G. Parke's 

 expedition, states that he oliserved this Woodpecker in the southernmost 

 portion of California, and found it more and more abundant he advanced 

 towards Texas, where it \\as quite common. Tl'" same naturalist, in liis 

 Report on the birds of Lieutenant Williamson- lition, remarks that he 



procured this bird first at \'allicita, but found it abounding in the woods 

 about Fort Yuma. He considered the si)ecies as new to the California 

 fauna, thougli frequently seen in Texas, several of the expeditions having 

 collected it. 



Dr. Woodhouse, in his Report on the birds of Sitgreaves's expedition to 

 the Zuni and tlie Colomdo speaks of finding this beautiful little Woodpecker 

 abundant in Texas, east of the Pecos River. During his stay in San An- 

 tonio and its vicinity, he became quite familiar with it. It was to be seen, 

 at all times, flying from tree to tree, and lighting on the trunk of the mes- 

 quites {Algarohiu), closely searching for its insect-food. In its habits and 

 notes, he states, it much resembles the common Hairy AYoodpecker. Dr. 

 AYoodhouse elsewliere remarks that lie did not meet with this bird west of 

 the Rio San Pedro, in Texas. In regard to its breeding-habits, so far as I am 

 aware, they are inferred rather than known. It is quite probable they are 

 not unlike those of the Pirtis piihr.srcns, which it so closely resembles. The 

 eggs in the collection of the Smithsonian were obtained with the collections 



