SPHIEOPICUS. 429 



Woodpeckers occupy different " orchards," each family consisting of a male, female, 

 and several young ; that the " orchards " consist of several trees a few rods apart, and 

 that these trees are regularly and constantly visited from sunrise to long after sunset, 

 not only by the Woodpeckers themselves but by numerous Humming-Birds, which 

 feed from the same holes on the sap and insects contained therein. The trees attacked 

 generally die after the second or third year of use. 



The excavation for the nest is usually made in large decaying trees at a considerable 

 height from the ground. The white eggs, four to six in number, are laid on chips at 

 the bottom of the hole. 



2. Sphyropicus nuchalis. 



Sphyrapicus nuchalis, Baird, Birds N. Am. p. 103, t. 35. figg. 1, 2 \ 



Sphyropicus nuchalis, Hargitt, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xviii. p. 192 ''. 



Sphyropicus varius, var. nuchalis, Baird, Brew., & Ridgw. N. Am. Birds, ii. p. 542 '. 



S. vario similis, sed fascia transversa nuchali coccinea nee albida, gutture quoque colore coocineo latiore usque 



ad fasciam albidam longitudinalem cervicalein extendente. 

 5 gula quoque plerumque coccinea. 



Hai. North Ameeica, Eocky Mountain region^, Arizona 2. — Mexico, Temosachic, 

 Guerrero, Casa Colorada, Refugio, all in Chihuahua ( W. Lloyd), Sierra de Bolanos 

 {W. B. Richardson) ; Guatemala, Panajachel [W. B. Richardson). 



This is a \vestern form of S. varius, closely allied but distinguishable by the slight 

 characters referred to above. We have received several adult birds from the Mexican 

 States of Chihuahua and Jalisco. Also a single male from Guatemala, which was shot 

 by Mr. Richardson at Panajachel, on the borders of the lake of Atitlan, at an elevation 

 of 5000 feet above the sea. This bird has the scarlet nape-band clearly shown, and 

 also the lateral extension of the scarlet throat ; it is the only one we have seen from 

 so far south. We have no female specimen from Mexico answering to the description 

 of the adult bird — that is, with half the throat-patch red. 



It would appear that the seasonal movements of this Woodpecker are not at all 

 comparable with those of S. varius. Dr. Coues found it an abundant and permanent 

 resident in Arizona, living amongst the cotton-wood trees and willows. Mr. Eidgway 

 says it is one of the most characteristic birds of the Wasatch and Uintah mountains, 

 its favourite resort during summer being the aspen-groves in the mountains at an 

 altitude of about 7000 feet. It nested in the aspen trees in preference to pines. In 

 winter it sought the cotton-woods and willows of the river valleys. 



In Mexico it is also probably resident, but our evidence is not complete on this 



point. 



Of the presence of S. ruber in our country we have as yet no trace. This is the bird 

 found iu the Pacific coast-region of North America, and the extreme form so far as 



