MR. GAMBEL ON THE BIRDS OF CALIFORNIA. 55 



it feeds much in the manner of that species ; uttering as it flits from tree to tree, and 

 when looking for a new place to peck at, a loud grating qrvich, qwich. 



The young are brownish beneath, as represented by Audubon, but the adult is pure 

 white. A male which I killed on Green River, in September, has the whole top of 

 the head pale red. 



Plate IX. Figs. 2 and 3. 



104. P. scALARis. Wagler, 



P. Nuttallii, Gamb. Proceed. Acad. Nat. Sci., vol. 1, p. 259. 



Male. Above transversely banded with black and white ; upper part of head black, with linear white 

 spots; hind head with a broad scarlet band half an inch in width; sides of head and neck black, with 

 a white stripe running from the base of the bill through it, about the length of the head, and also a 

 white stripe running from the top of the eye, and nearly uniting on the back of the neck. Wings on 

 their outer and inner webs with six or seven bands of white spots ; all the wing coverts also with 

 white spots ; tips of primaries and tertiaries tinged with brownish. Upper tail coverts and four 

 middle tail feathers black. Beneath whitish, sides, lower tail coverts, and lateral tail feathers, 

 with numerous spots and bars of black. Irids carmine. 



Length 7 inches, wing 4|- inches, tail 3 inches, tarsus j, bill | inch. 



The female resembles the male, but wants the red band, is smaller, and has the bill shorter. 



Young with the whole top of the head red, mixed with white and black, the feathers being black at base, 

 white towards the end, and red at the tip. It also has more numerous transverse bars and spots on 

 the back, and wings, and below is tinged with yellowish brown, and more spotted. 



This beautiful species, first described by Wagler in the Isis in 1829, I found 

 abundant in California at all seasons. It has the usual habits of the Woodpeckers, 

 and sometimes familiarly examines the fence rails, and orchard trees, for its insect 

 fare. 



At Santa Barbara I found them breeding, and May 1st discovered a nest in the 

 dead stump of an oak, about fifteen feet from the ground, containing young. The 

 hole for entrance was remarkably small, but inside appeared large and deep. The 

 parents were constantly bringing insects and larvae. The note, as they fly from tree 

 to tree, is a loud harsh krech, kr-r-r-r-ek, kreck. 



105. P. MERIDIONALIS, SwaiUS. 



P. Gairdnerii, Aud. 

 We found this small species in the Rocky Mountains, and occasionally in 

 California. 



MELANERPES, Swains. 



106. M. ERYTHROCEPHALUS, (Linn.) Swains. Red-headed Woodpecker 



I found numbers of this widely distributed species, in a belt of oak timber, near 

 the Mission of St. Gabriel, in Upper California. 



