BATCHELDER'S WOODPECKER. 61 



eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains than on the western and through the 

 Great Basin regions. It undoubtedly is also found in the Rocky Mountain 

 regions of southern British Columbia and the Province of Alberta. Its gen- 

 eral habits, food, etc., resemble those of the two preceding subspecies in every 

 way. The eggs are also similar. 



The average measurement of eleven specimens is 19.05 by 15.24 millimetres, 

 or 0.75 by 0.60 inch. The largest egg measures 19.81 by 15.24 millimetres, or 

 0.78 by 0.60 inch; the smallest, 17.53 by 14.99 millimetres, or 0.69 by 0.59 inch. 



The type specimen, No. 21945 (not figured), from a set of four eggs, was 

 taken by Dr. James C. Merrill, United States Army, near Fort Shaw, Montana, 

 on June 12, 1879. 



24. Dryobates borealis (Yieillot). 



RED-COCKADED WOODPECKER. 



Picus borealis Vieillot, Oiseaux Amerique Septentrionale, II, 1807, CG. 



Dryobates borealis Ridgway, Proceedings U. S. National Museum, VIII, 1885, 355. 

 (B SO, O 29G, R 362, O 4:53, U 395.) 



Geographical range: Southeastern United States; north to North Carolina, 

 Tennessee, Arkansas, and the Indian Territory; west to eastern Texas. Casually to New 

 Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Kentucky. 



The Red-cockaded Woodpecker, a common resident of our South Atlantic 

 and Gulf States, is particularly abundant in the pine forests of South Carolina, 

 Georgia, and Florida. In the northern half of North Carolina it is rather rare, 

 but it probably breeds in the vicinity of Raleigh, as Mr. II. II. Brimley shot a 

 female there in pine woods on April 22, 1891. There are also several specimens 

 in the United States National Museum collection from Roane County, Tennessee; 

 it has likewise been reported from Newport, in northeastern Arkansas, and from 

 the Indian Territory; these points probably mark the northern limits of its 

 breeding range. Mr. Henry Nehrling found it not uncommon in the flat, sandy 

 pine woods in southeastern Texas, which marks the western limits of its known 



rana'e. 



The majority of observers state that it is strictly a bird of the pines, and 

 that it breeds only in trees of that kind, while Mr. Nehrling says that it usually 

 excavates its nesting sites in deciduous trees, ami Mr. E. A. Mdlhenny writes 

 me that in southern Louisiana it generally nests in willow and china trees. 

 The Red-cockaded Woodpecker is reported to be one of the noisiest members 

 of this family, but at the same time more sociable in disposition than other 

 species. Its call notes are said to be uttered in a rather petulant manner, and 

 Alexander Wilson compares them to the querulous cries of young birds. Its 

 food, like that of all our Woodpeckers, consists mainly of small insects and their 

 larva?, cocoons, and spiders, and, in summer, to some extent of berries and fruits. 

 Mr. E. A. Mdlhenny writes that in southern Louisiana the fig crop ripens 

 during then- breeding season, and that the young are fed to a considerable 



