r,G2 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



I>ohintl the oyc=?, dark crimson. Ui'lly bloofl-re<l, streaked finely with hoary whitish. 

 Wind's and tail eiitire-ly nnilbrtn dark j^lossy-green. Female similar. Lenfjth about 10.50; 

 wing, (>.'>0. Young without the nuelial collar, and tlu' red ot" head repUiced by black. 

 Hab. Western America from Black Hills to Bacilic. 



The peculiarities iu the feathers of the under parts have already been ad- 

 verted to. This structure apj)ears to be essentially connected with the red 

 featliers, since these have tlie same texture in the other species of the genus, 

 wlierever the color occurs. The remark may perhajjs apply generally to the 

 red feathers of most, if not all, Woodpeckers, and may be connected with 

 some chemical or physical condition yet to be determined. 



IIauits. Lewis's Woodpecker would seem to have a distribution through- 

 out the Pacitic Coast, from the sea-shore to the mountains, and from Puget 

 Sound to the Clulf of California, and extending to the eastern border of the 

 Cheat Plains, within the limits of the United States. They were first ob- 

 served by Messrs. Lewis and Clarke, in their memorable journey to the 

 Pacific. Subseijuently Mr. Nuttall met with them in his westward journey, 

 in the central chain of the liockv ^lountains. This was in the month of 

 July. Among the cedar and jdne woods of Hear Piver, on the edge of I^pper 

 California, he found them iidiabiting the decayed trunks of the pine-trees, 

 and already feeding their young. Afterwards, at the close of August, he met 

 them in docks on the plains, sixty miles up the Wahlamet. He describes 

 them :ia v '- "-iliKe AVoodpeckers in their habits, perching in dense tlocks, 



-o ►'>tarlings, neither climbing ))ranches nor tapping in the manner of their 

 tribe, but darting after insects and devouring berries, like Thrushes. He saw 

 them but seldom, either in the dense forests of the Columbia or in any set- 

 tled part of California. 



Townsend sjjeaks of their arriving about the first of May on Bear Kiver 

 and the Columbia. Both sexes incubate, according to his observations. 



Dr. (Jambel first observed this Woodpecker in a belt of oak timber near 

 the Mission of St. Crabriel, in California, and states that it was abundant. 

 Ho also describes its habits as pect'^ar, and unlike the generality of Wood- 

 ]»eckers. Dr. Heermann, too, speaks of finding it in all the parts of Cali- 

 fornia which he visited. Dr. Xewberry, in his Notes on the zoology of 

 Lieutenant Williamson's expedition, refers to it as most unlike the Cali- 

 fornia Woodjiecker in the region it occupies and in its retiring habits. He 

 describes it as seeming to choose, for its favorite haunts, the evergreen 

 forests upon the rocky declivities of the (>ascade and Kocky Mountains. 

 He first observed it in Xorthern California, but subsequently noticed it in 

 the mountains all the way to the Col^.mbia. Though often seen in low ele- 

 vations, it was evidently alpine in its preferences, and was found most fre- 

 quently near the line of perpetual snow ; and when crossing the snow lines, 

 in the mountain-passes, it was often observed ilyiug far above the party. He 

 describes it as beini^ alwavs shv, and difficult to shoot. 



1 )r. S. W. Woodhouse describes this species as being common in the Indian 



