518 



NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



Habits. Tliis species belongs to our southern and south\ve.stern fauna, 

 ciiterinfj our borders from Me.vieo, occurrinjf from tlie valley of the Eio 

 (iriinde to Southeastern California, and the slopes of 

 the liocky Mountains south of tiie .S5th parallel. 

 It is found throughout Mexico to Yucatan and Gua- 

 temala. 



Dr. Samuel Cabot obtained a single specimen of 

 this bird at Yucatan, which he described under tlie 

 name of P. jnirvus, in tlie Boston Journal of Xatural 

 History, V, p. 92. It was jnocured early in Decem- 

 ber, 1841, in the neighborhood of Ticul, Yucatan. 

 l^v. Kenuerly considered it a not uncommon species 

 in tlie vicinity of Uoca ( !ninde ; especially wherever 

 there were large trees. The same naturalist, in his 

 Iteport on the birds of Lieutenant Whipple's expedi- 

 tion, states that he very often saw this bird near 



Ontprmost tail- Outermost tall- •' 



feather of Kcud teiither of p/cw Sail Aiitouio, Tcxas, as Well as duriiifj the march 



scataris. nuttallt. ^ 



several hundred miles west of that place, but that, 

 after leaving the Rio Grande, he did not meet with it until he reached the 

 head-waters of Bill Williams Fork. From thence to the Great Colorado 

 liiver he saw it fre(piently, wherever there was any timber ; but it was 

 very .shy, alighting on the tops of the leafless cotton-wood trees, and keep- 

 ing a vigilant lookout. 



Dr. Heermann, in his Report on the birds of Lieutenant J. ('. Parke's 

 expedition, states that he observed this Woodpecker in the soiithenimost 

 jiortion of California, and found it more and more abundant as he advanced 

 towards Texas, where it was quite common. The same naturalist, in his 

 IJeport on the birds of Lieutenant Williamson's expedition, remarks that he 

 procured this bird first at \'allicita, but fuuntl it aliounding in the woods 

 about Fort Yuma. He cjiisidered the si)ecit'S as new to the California 

 fauna, though frecpiently seen in Texas, several of the expeditions luuing 

 collected it. 



Dr. AYoodhonse, in his Ileport on the birds of Sitgreaves's expedition to 

 the Ziini and the Colorado speaks of finding this beautiful little Woodpecker 

 abundant in Texas, east of the Pecos liiver. During his stay in San An- 

 tonio and its vicinity, he became quite familiar with it. It was to be seen, 

 at all times, flying from tree to tree, and lighting on the trunk of the mes- 

 quites (A/r/nrobia), closely searching for its insect-food. In its habits and 

 notes, he states, it much resembles the commoii Hairy Wood[)ecker. D:-. 

 Woodhouse elsewhere remarkr that he did not meet with this bird west of 

 the Iiio San Pedro, in Texas. In regard to its lireeding-habits, so far as I am 

 aware, they are inferred rather than known. It is (juite probable they are 

 not unlike those of the P/r«.s pithrM-cns, wliich it so clo.sely resembles. The 

 eggs in the collection of the Smithsonian were obtained with the collections 



