riCID.K — TlIK WOODPECKKUS. 



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witli in tlici iK'i^fliliniliood dl" I'.dston, tlioii^h in tlui wcsteni |i!\it (»t" Mii>;.s;i- 

 c'liusetts it is still to l)c lound. In the ('(»lk'(ti(»ns of the Smitlisoiiiiui In- 

 stitution are spfcinitMis IVoiu iVunsylvanin, WvoniinLC, Niihraska, Kansas, 

 Missouri, Louisian;), tlic Indian Territory, etc. Sir John Kiclianlson sjiraks 

 nf it as nuLjinL,' in sunnner as far north as the northern shores of Lake 

 ITuron. lie als(» remarks that in the Hudson liay Museum there is a speei- 

 men fn»m the hanks of the ('olund)ia Kiver. I)r. (Jaml»(d, in his paper on 

 the \t'niU «»f ( alilnrnia, states that he saw many of them in a helt of ojd; tim- 

 her near tlie Mission of St. (Jal)riel. As, however, I )r. Ileermaini did not 

 meet with it in California, and as no other collector has olttaineil specimens 

 in that State, this is ])rohal)ly a mistake. With the exception of l)r. Wood- 

 house, who speaks of havini;- found this sj^ocies in the Indian Territory and 

 in Texas, it is not mentioned hy any (»f the .i^overnment explorin«4 jiarties. 

 It may tlierefore he assiijned a ranjLje extendin;.;, in summer, as far north as 

 Labrador, and westward to the eastern sIojh'S of the Kocky Mountains. 

 Throughout the year it is a ]»ermanent resident only of the more southern 

 States, where it i.s, however, much less abumlant in summer than it is in 

 Pennsylvania. 



AVilson, at the time of his writing,' (LS()8), speaks of fmdinjjf .several of the 

 nests of this Wood])ecker within the boundaries of the then city of Thila- 

 delphia, two of them h(>in^ in hut ton wood-trees and one in the decayed 

 lind) of an elm. The i)arent birds made reuular excursions to the woods 

 beyond the Schuylkill, and ])reserved a silence and circumspection in visiting- 

 their nest entirely unlike their hal»its in their wilder ])laces of residence. 

 The species is altoijjether migratory, visitini; the Middle and Xorthem States 

 early in May and leaviuLj in ()ct(>ber. It beiiins the construction of its nest 

 almost innnediately after its Hrst ajipearance, as with other mend)ers of its 

 family, by excavations made in the trunk or larger limbs of trees, depositing 

 six white eggs on the bare wood. The cavities for their nests are made 

 almost exclusively in dead wootl, rarely, if ever, in the living portion of the 

 tree. In Texas, Louisiana, Kentucky, and the Carolinas, they have two 

 broods in a season, but farther north than this they rarely rai.se more than 

 one. Their eugs are usuallv six in number, and, like all the eggs of this 

 family, are pure white and translucent when fresh. They vary a little in 

 their shape, but are usually slightly more oval and less spherical than those 

 of several other species. Mr. Xuttall sjteaks of the eggs of this bird as 

 being said to ])e marked at the larger end with reddish spots. I have never 

 met with any thus marked, and as ^Ir. Xuttall does not give it as from his 

 own observations I have no doubt that it is a mistake. Mr. Paine, of 

 Kandolph, Vt., writes that he has only seen a single .specimen of this 

 Woodpecker in that part of Vermt)nt, whih' on the western side of the 

 (Jreen ^lountains they are said to be verv common. lie adds that it is a 

 tradition among his older neighl)ors that these Woodi^eckers were formerly 

 everywhere known througiiout all portions of the State. 



