I'ICID.E — THE WOUDPECKEHS. .yjj 



Dr. Nt'\vi)t'rry only met with tliis binl uiiioiig tlio Ctiscadu Muuiitaiiis, iu 

 Orej,'on, where he did not find it eonnnon. 



Mr. J. (t. liell, who lirst <liseovered this species, in tlie vicinity of Sutter's 

 Mills, in (.'jilil'ornia, on the Anicricun Uiver, represents it as Irejpicntin;,' the 

 hij^her branches of the pines, keej)ing almost out of j,'unshot ran^e. Active 

 and restless in its movements, it uttered at rare intervals a sharp and clear 

 note, while busily pui-suin*,' its search for food. 



Mr. John K. Lord states that the only place in which he saw this very 

 rare bird was in the open timbered country about the C'olville Valley and 

 Spokan Uiver. He has observed that this \Vood})ecker almost invariably 

 haunts woods of the Vinns poniUrosn, and never retires into the thick damp 

 forest. It arrives in small numbers at Colville, in April, antl disappears 

 a<^ain in October and Xovendjer, or as soon as the snow begins to fall. Al- 

 though he did not succeed in obtaining its eggs, he saw a i)air nesting in the 

 month of May in a hole bored in the branch of a very tall i»ine-tree. It 

 seldom flies far, but darts from tree to tree with a short jerking flight, and 

 always, while flying, uttei-s a sharp, clear, chirping cry. Mr. Kiilgway foi. id 

 it to be common in the pine forests of the Sierra Nevada, in the region of 

 the Donner Like Pass. It was first observed in July, at an altitude of about 

 five thousand feet, on the western slope of that range, where it was seen play- 

 ing about the tops of the tallest dead pines. On various occasions, at all sea- 

 sons, it was afterwards found to be quite plentiful on the eastern slope, in the 

 neighborhood of Carson City, Xevada. Its habits and manners are described 

 as much like those of the P. harrisi, but it is of a livelier and more restless 

 disposition. Its notes have some resemblance to those of that species, but 

 are of a more rattling character. It is easily recognized, when seen, by its 

 strikingly peculiar plumage. 



