WOODPECKERS 327 



Veil Creek and within a hundred yards from the point where that stream 

 is crossed by the Glacier Point road between Peregoy and Mono meadows. 

 The nest was about 50 feet above the ground, and as both parent birds 

 were visiting the site at frequent intervals it likely contained young. One 

 of the adults beat a rolling tattoo on a neighboring dead pine. Two days 

 later, on Mono Meadows, when a tapping sound was followed up, another 

 bird of this species was seen, this time in a red fir. The call note then 

 heard had some of the quality of that of the Hairy Woodpecker, but was 

 far weaker. 



A bird collected at the head of Grouse Creek on May 20, 1919, gave 

 evidence that she would have laid within a few days. This, again, would 

 place the time for young in the nest at about mid-June, 



While one of our party was traversing the trail from McGee Lake to 

 Lake Tenaya on October 5, 1915, he saw two male Arctic Three-toed 

 Woodpeckers foraging close together on a dead lodgepole pine; a single 

 shot secured the two as specimens. At Tuolumne Meadows at dusk on the 

 evening of July 5, 1915, a male was seen foraging on a lodgepole pine. 

 The bird worked industriously, with a quick succession of strokes, and 

 once was seen to steady itself against the tree by spreading one wing. 

 As it took flight, it uttered a single weak note which reminded the observer 

 of the sound produced in twisting a wet cork out of a bottle. 



Sierra Red-breasted Sapsucker. Sphyrapicus varius daggetti Grinnell 



Field characters. — A woodpecker, in size decidedly smaller than robin. Whole head, 

 throat, and breast, rose-red or crimson (pi. 5d) ; back and wings black, spotted with 

 white, rump white; a stripe of white along wing when folded. Whole demeanor of 

 bird very quiet. Voice (seldom heard) : A single low note, chiirr, or cheer-r-r, burred 

 at end. 



Occurrence. — Common in summer in parts of Transition Zone and lower portion of 

 Canadian Zone on west slope of Sierra Nevada; found also at Walker Lake, on the east 

 slope, in same season. Winters in Upper and Lower Sonoran zones on the west side. 

 Seen in Yosemite Valley during fall and early winter months; earliest record, Septem- 

 ber 16, 1920 (C. W. Michael, MS). Forages in both deciduous and evergreen trees. 



Two woodpeckers of a particular type known as Sapsuckers are found 

 in the Yosemite region throughout the year, and a third variety of the 

 same category visits the region during the winter. The subject of the 

 present account, the Sierra Red-breasted Sapsucker, is found in the main 

 forest belt during the spring, summer, and fall, but regularly performs 

 an altitudinal migration which carries it down into the tree growths of 

 the western foothills and valleys for the winter months. 



Sapsuckers, of whatever species, seek mainly the juices and to a less 

 extent the softer wood (bast and cambium) of the trees. Hence they work 

 only on living trees, and their relation to the forest is entirely different 



