58 LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



attacked the larger intruder fearlessly, and several times she darted at its head 

 without frightening it away, and at last the defense became so spirited that the 

 Red-head seized the little one by the wing, tearing a secondary therefrom, and 

 flew off with its trophy." 



The number of eggs laid to a set varies from three to six, sets of four or 

 five being most commonly found; one egg is deposited daily. In the north, 

 as a rule, only a single brood is raised in a season; in the more southern parts 

 of its range it probably raises two. If the first set of eggs are taken, and 

 the entrance hole has not been enlarged, it will often lay a second set in the 

 same cavity, and occasionally a third set. Incubation lasts about twelve' days, 

 and the male performs his full share of this duty. The young are diligently 

 cared for, for some time after leaving the nest, and when able to provide for 

 themselves each goes its own way. In the winter they dig shallower excava- 

 tions in dead trees, old stumps, or fence posts in some sheltered situation, in 

 which they spend the nights, and to which they retire during stormy weather. 

 In Florida full sets of fresh eggs may be looked for during the last week in 

 April, and in our Northern States about a month later. The nesting sites vary 

 from 5 up to 50 feet. There is considerable variation in the size of the eggs of 

 this species; like those of all Woodpeckers, they are glossy white in color, and 

 mostly ovate and rounded ovate in shape. 



The average measurement of sixty specimens in the United States National 

 Museum collection is 19.40 by 15.08 millimetres, or about 0.76 by 0.59 inch. 

 The largest egg of the series measures 22.35 by 16.26 millimetres, or 0.88 by 

 0.64 inch; the smallest, 17.78 by 13.46 millimetres, or 0.70 by 0.53 inch. The 

 set to which the smallest egg belongs was taken by Dr. William L. Ralph, in 

 Putnam County, Florida, and one of the five eggs it contained is figured. The 

 cavity was excavated in the dead top of a magnolia tree standing in an open 

 field near woods, 48 feet from the ground. 



The type specimen, No. 25594 (PL 1, Fig. 24), from a set of five eggs, 

 Ralph collection, was taken as stated above, on April 30, 1892, and represents 

 one of the smallest eggs of the series. 



22. Dryobates pubescens gairdnerii (Audubon). 



GAIRDNER'S WOODPECKER. 



Picus gairdnerii Audubon, Ornithological Biography, V, 1839, 317. 



Dryobates pubescens gairdnerii Ridgway, Proceeding U. S. National Museum, VIII, 1885, 355. 

 (B 77, O 299a, R 361a, C 441, U 394a.) 



Geographical range: Western North America; from southern California north 

 through Oregon and Washington into British Columbia, to about latitude 55°, and possiblv 

 farther north; east to the eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada and Cascade ranges and 

 somewhat beyond. 



Gairdner's Woodpecker, the western representative of the Downy, is prin- 

 cipally distinguishable from it by having the middle and greater wing coverts 

 plain black, or only slightly spotted with white. Its range is apparently rather 



