522 



NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



cuiitinuous across, sometimes tlie others ; always interrupted along the 

 shaft, and even reduced to rounded spots of black on one or both webs. No 

 distinct bands are visil>Ie on raising the crissum. The black patch on inner 

 web of outer tail-feather near tlie base increases on the second and third, 

 on the latter leaving the end only with an obliipie white patch. The bands 

 on the under surface have a tendency to a transversely cordate and inter- 

 rupted, ratlier than a continuous, linear arrangement. 



Young liirds have the whole top of head red, as in P. scalaris, with or 

 without white at the base of the red. The white nasal tufts and other 

 characters will, however, distinguish them. 



This bird, though widely different in appearance from scalaris, may never- 

 theless, without any violence, be regarded as but one extreme of a species 

 of which the lighter examples of scalaris {hairdi) are the other, the tran- 

 sition towards nuttalli being through var. scalaris, var. f/rai/soni, and var. lu~ 

 casanus, each in that succession showing a nearer approach to the distinctive 

 features of nuttalli AVe have not seen any intermediate specimens, how- 

 ever. The pure white instead of smoky-brown nasal tufts, and their greater 

 development, are the only characters which show a marked difference from 

 the varieties of scalaris; Ijut the other diflerences are nothing more than 

 an extension of the black markings and restriction of the red in the male, 

 the result of a melanistic tendencv in the Pacific rej'ion. 



Habits. This species was first discovered by Dr. Gand)el near Los An- 

 geles, Cal., and described by him in the Proceedings of the Philadel])hia 

 Academy. Afterwards, in his paper on the birds of California, published in 

 the Academy's Journal, mistaking it for the P. scalaris of AVagler, he fur- 

 nished a fuller description of the ]»ird and its habits, and gave with it illus- 

 trations of both sexes. So far as now known, it appears to be confined to 

 the regions in California and Oregon west of the Coast IJange, extending as 

 far soutli as San Diego, representing, in its distribution on the Pacific, the 

 7^. boreal is of ^tlie Atlantijo States. Qne specimijn in the SmitlteoniJiu collec- 

 tions was obtained on Umpqua Kiver, in Oregon Territory ; the others at 

 Santa Clara, San Francisco, Petaluma, Ijodega, and Yreka, in California. Dr. 

 Woodhouse says, in his IJeport on the birds of the Zufii and Colorado expe- 

 dition, that he has only seen this bird in California, from which region he 

 has examined numerous s])ecimens. Dr. Heermann, in his Report on the birds 

 of Lieuteniiut Williamson's expedition, states that this Wood])ecker is occa- 

 sionally found in the mountains of Northern California, but that it is much 

 more abundant in the valleys. Dr. (Jambel found it abundant in California 

 at all seasons. He describes it as having the usual habits of Woodpeckers, 

 familiarly exandnini»- the fence-rails and orchard-trees for its insect-fare. 

 He found it breeding at Santa Barbara, and on the 1st of May discovered a 

 nest containing young in the dead stumj) of an oak, about fifteen feet from 

 the ground. The hole for entrance was remarkably small, but inside ajipeared 

 large and deep. The parents were constantly bringing insects and larva?. 



