BAIED'S WOODPECKBE. 63 



25. Dryobates scalaris bairdi (Sclater). 



BAIRD'S WOODPECKER. 



Picus bairdi (Sclater's MSS.) Malherbe, Monograph of the Picidis, I, 1861, 118, PI. 27. 

 Dryobates scalaris bairdi Ridgway, Manual of North American Birds, 1887, p. 285. 

 (B 79, C 297, E 363, C 434, U 396.) 



Geographical range : Northern Mexico and southern border of the United States, 

 from Texas through southern New Mexico and Arizona to southeastern California; north 

 to southern Nevada and southwestern Utah. 



Baird's Woodpecker, also known as "Texan Sapsucker" and "Ladder- 

 backed Woodpecker," is generally resident and breeds wherever found. It 

 attains about tlie northern limits of its range in southwestern Utah, where Dr. C 

 Hart Merriam met with it near the mouth of the Santa Clara River; he also 

 observed it at Upper Cottonwood Springs, at the eastern base of the Charleston 

 Mountains, Nevada, and an adult inale was taken by him on Beaverdam River, 

 in northwestern Arizona, on May 9, 1891. This extends its northern range to 

 about latitude 37°. In Texas and New Mexico it is rarely met with north of 

 latitude 34°. The western limits of its range are found in southeastern California, 

 in San Bernardino County. Mr. F. Stephens, who is well known as an accurate 

 observer, writes me on this subject: "I have taken Baird's Woodpecker, mated, 

 in April, in the eastern end of the San Gorgonio Pass, in San Bernardino County, 

 California, and also at other times and places in the Colorado desert, where it 

 is not as common, however, as Nuttall's Woodpecker." Dr. A. K. Fisher took 

 two specimens on January 4 and 5, 1891, at Hesperia, in the same county. The 

 eastern limit of its range appears to be found in southeastern Texas, where Mr. 

 Hemy Nelu'liug reports it as common in all the wooded districts of Harris, 

 Montgomery, Galveston, and Fort Bend counties, and from our present knowl- 

 edge it appears to occur throughout the greater part of this State, excepting the 

 northern and northeastern portions. Baird's Woodpecker is but a trifle larger 

 than the Downy, and its habits, call notes, food, etc., are very similar. It prefers 

 the lowlands and river bottoms to the uplands, and it is rarely found at altitudes 

 above 4,000 feet. I found it common in the mesquite groves on the Santa Cruz 

 River, between Tucson and the Papago Mission Church, Arizona, and much less 

 so among the cottonwoods and willows on Rillito Creek. In Arizona it is also 

 met Avitli in the oak belt, but apparently not in the pines. 



Mr. W. E. D. Scott states: "I have frequently met with Baird's Woodpecker 

 in the Cholla region in Arizona, digging in the ground at the roots of a cactus. 

 They are at times gregarious. I particularly noticed this in December, 1885, 

 Avhen I often met with this species in flocks of from four to a dozen on the 

 plains at an altitude of 3,000 feet. I have found the species breeding in May 

 at an altitude of 3,500 feet. On May 27, 1884, I found a nest in a mesquite 

 tree, which contained five eggs nearly ready to hatch; the opening to the nest 

 was 14 feet from the ground."-^ 



1 The Auk, Vol. Ill, 1886, p. 426. 



