I'R'ID.K — TIIK WoOnri'X'KEKS. ,5(J5 



witli in the noyiliorliood ol' rxistoii, tlioiinh in tlui western ])art (tf Miissa- 

 c'liusflts it is still to liu loiuul. In tlic cipllectidiis of tlu; Sniitlisonian In- 

 stitution are speeinieiis iVoiii I'ennsylviiniii, Wyoniinj;', Ncjlirivska, Kansas, 

 Missouri, Louisiana, tiic Indian Territory, ete. Sir John Kielianlson speaks 

 of it as ranj,'iiit,' in sunnner as far north as the northern shores of Lake 

 Huron. lie also remarks tliat in the llmlson I'.ay Museum tlu're is a speci- 

 iien from the hanks of the ('olunil)ia lliver. Dr. (ianiliel, in his juiper on 

 the liiriU of Caliiornia, states that he .saw many of them in a hell of oak tim- 

 1)cr near the Mi.ssion of .^t. (iabriel. As, however, Dr. lleermaiui did not 

 meet with it in California, and as no other coUeetor has olitaiiied s])eeimens 

 in that State, this is ])ro!>al)ly a mistake. With the exeeption of Dr. W'ood- 

 liou.se, who speaks of having' found this s])ocies in the Indian Territory and 

 in Texas, it is not mentioned l)y any of the ^'overnment exph)rin^ parties. 

 It may therefore ho assigned a range extending, in summer, as hir north as 

 Labrador, and westward to the eastern slojies of the IJocky Mountains. 

 Throughout the year it is a jiermanent resident only of the more .soutliern 

 States, where it is, however, nuich less abundant in suuuner than it is in 

 TemLsylvania. 



Wilson, at the tiuie of his writing (1S08), speaks of fii'ding several of the 

 nests of this Wood))ecker within the boundaries of the then city of I'liila- 

 delphia, two of them lieing in buttonwood-trees and one in the decayed 

 lind) of an elm. The jjarent birds made regular excursions to the woods 

 heyond the Scliuylkill, and ])reserved a silence and cirenmspection in visiting 

 their nest entirely unlike their habits in their wilder places of residence. 

 The species is altogether migratory, visiting the Middle and Xorthein States 

 early in May and leaving in Octolier. It begins the construction of its nest 

 almost innnediately after its lirst ajipearance, as with other memhers 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 wood, rarely, if ever, in the living portion of the 

 tree. In Texas, J.,ouisiana, Kentnck}', and the ("arolinas, they have two 

 broods in a season, but farther north than this they rarely raise more than 

 one. Their eggs are u.sually six in number, and, like all the eggs of this 

 family, are piu'e white and tran.slucent when fresh. They vary a little in 

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

 of several other si)ecies. Mr. Xuttall sjieaks of the eggs of this bird as 

 being said to l)e marked at tin; larger end with reddish spots. I have never 

 met with any thus marked, and as Mr. Xuttall docs not give it as from his 

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

 l{andol|)h, Vt., writes that ho has only seen a single specimen of tliis 

 Woodpecker in that part of Vermont, while on the western side of the 

 Ch'een ^lountains they ai'e said to be very common. He adds that it is a 

 tradition among his older neighbors that these Woodpeckers were formerly 

 everywhere known throughout all portions of the State. 



