GAIEDNER'S WOODPECKER. 59 



restricted, and seems to be mainly confined to that part of ( !alifornia west of the 

 Sierra Nevadas. Mr. E. W. Nelson reports it as rare in the pifion licit of the 

 Panamint and Grapevine mountains during- Dr. C. Hart Merriam's explorations 

 in the Death Valley region, in the southeastern parts of this State, in 1891. In 

 Oregon and Washington it probably does not reach very far beyond the eastern 

 slopes of the Cascades, while in central British Columbia it is known to occur 

 as far north as Lake Babine, in about latitude 55°. Among a collection of birds 

 and eo-o-s sent by Mr. R. MacFarlane from Fort St. James was a single skin of 

 this subspecies taken in June, 1889. 



Gairdner's Woodpecker is more or less a resident and probably breeds 

 wherever found. It is said to be rather common in parts of northern ( lalifornia 

 and in Oregon, but I found it somewhat rare everywhere in the west. It occurs 

 in small numbers about Fort Klamath, Oregon, where I took a set of four 

 slightly incubated eggs, near the Indian Agency, in a dead aspen sapling, on 

 June 9, 1883. The cavity was about 8 inches deep and situated 15 feet from 

 the ground. All of the Klamath birds are typical, and fully as dark underneath 

 as any from the coast, I also met with this or the lately described Batchelder's 

 Woodpecker near Fort Walla Walla, Washington, and on the John Day River, 

 Oregon, but it was of rare occurrence in both localities, and seemed to be con- 

 fined to the willows near streams. Mr. Rollo H. Beck, of Berryessa, California, 

 writes me that it is a fairly common resident there, and is principally found along 

 the water courses of the foothills, and only occasionally along the creeks and 

 streams in the valleys. Mr. Charles A. Allen informs me that it breeds in the 

 oaks and willows along the Sacramento River, California, but that it is not 

 common. Its breeding sites seem to be confined to deciduous trees, preferably 

 dead ones, or old stumps, and besides these already mentioned, sycamore and 

 cottonwoods are occasionally used. Their nesting sites are rarely found at any 

 great distance from the ground, usually ranging from 4 to 20 feet up and rarely 

 higher. 



Its general habits, food, call notes, mode of nidification, etc., are similar to 

 those of the Downy Woodpecker, and the same description will answer for both. 

 As California is a great fruit-growing State, Gairdner's Woodpecker should be 

 especially protected for the good work it does by ridding the orchards of noxious 

 insects and their larvaa. In southern California nidification begins sometimes as 

 early as the middle of April, while farther north it is several weeks later; four 

 or five eggs are usually laid to a set, and one is deposited daily. Ordinarily but 

 one brood is raised in a season. The eggs of Gairdner's Woodpecker resemble 

 those of the Downy in every respect, but average a trifle smaller. 



The average measurement of thirty-four specimens in the United States 

 National Museum collection is 18.80 by 14.22 millimetres, or 0.74 by 0.5G inch. 

 The largest egg of the series measures 20.32 by 16 millimetres, or 0.80 by 0.63 

 inch; the smallest, 17.53 by 13.21 millimetres, or 0.69 by 0.52 inch. 



The type specimen, No. 19433 (not figured), from a set of four eggs, Bendire 

 collection, was taken by the writer near Fort Klamath, Oregon, on June 9, 1883. 



