riC'ID.E — THE WOODPECKERS. 



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II.vr.lTS. Tliis .s[)ci*ios Ikis a well-defined and exlendetl distill ml it m, tVnui 

 the Paeilie- to tlio Atlantic, and tVoni the nnrtliein portions c»f tlie Tnitcd 

 States to the extreme Aielie le^inns. In tlu* I'nitetl States it has l»een found 

 as far south as Massaehnselts, Xt»\v Vork, and Ohio, Imt lardy: and. so far as 

 I am aware, it is a winter visitant only to any hut tlie exlnnu' northern por- 

 tions of the rni<»n, exeei>t aloni;" the lintj of the Kocky Mountains and the 

 Sierra Xevada. Audulion savs it occurs in Northern Massacliusctts, ami in 

 all portions of Maine that are covered hy hjrests of tall trees, where it con- 

 stantly resides, lie saw a lew in the (Jreat Pine Forest ol Pcnn>yl\ania, 

 and Dr. Pachman notiied several in the nei.uhlt<»rhood of Xiai;ara Falls, 

 and was of the o]>inion that it breeds in the northern jiart of New Voik. 

 The sauK! writer ilescrihes the nestinu-place of the Arctic \Voi»djHH'ker as 

 jjjenerally hored in tlie hody of a sound tree, near its lirst laruc hranches. 

 He observed no particular choice as to tlie tind>er, havinLj seen it in oaks, 

 pines, etc. The mst, like that of most of this family, is worked out l>y both 

 sexes, and re<[uires fully a week for its completion. Its usual ile}»tli is 

 from twenty to twenty-tbur inches. It is smooth and broad at the bottom, 

 althouiih so narrow at its entrance as to a}»pear scarcely sutlicient to enable 

 one of the birds to vnU;v it. The euiis are from four to six, rather rounded 

 and imri! white. < Mdv one brood is raised in the season. The voum; follow 

 their parents until the autumn. In the southern districts where these 

 Woodpeckers are Ibund, their numbers are greatly increased in the winter 

 by accessions from the North. 



Dr. C'oojter found this species ([uite numerous, in Septend»er, in the vicinity 

 of Lake Tahoe and the sunnuits of the Sierra Nevada, above an altitude of 

 six thousand feet. From thence this bird has a northern ranLie chietly on 

 the east side of these mountains and of the Cascade Ifan^'e. None were 

 seen near the Lower Colund)ia. At the lake tln'v were ([uite fearless, com- 

 inn close to the hotel, and industriously rap})inu the trees in the evening and 

 in the early morninu'. F'arther north Dr. ('oo]»er ibund them very wild, 

 owiu"^" prtibably to their having' been hunted by the Indians Ibr their skins, 

 which thev consider verv valuable. He noticed tlieir burrows in low pine- 

 trees near the lake, where Iw had no doubt they also rjiise tlieir younix. Dr. 

 ('oo}>er has always found them very silent birds, thoui;h in the spring they 

 probably have more variety of calls. The only nc»te he heard was a shrill, 

 harsh, rattlini;" cry, ([uite distinct from that of any other Woodpecker. 



The lli^lit of this Woodjte(d<er is d.escribed as ra]>id, uUdiuu, and greatly 

 undulated. Occasiimally it will tly to (piite a distance before it alights, 

 uttering, from time to time, a huul shrill note. 



Professor Verrill says this bird is very conunon in Western Maine, in 

 the spring, fall, and winter, or from the middle of October to the middle or 

 end of March. It is not known to occur there in the summer. \( ar Calais 

 a few are seen, and it is supposed to breed, but is not common. In Massa- 

 chusetts it is onlv a rare and accidental visitant, occurring! usuallv late in 



