360 LAND BIRDS 



PLUMAGE CONSPICUOUSLY BLACK AND 'WHITE 



393 c. HARRIS WOODPECKER. — Dryobates villosus 

 hairrisi. 



Family : The Woodpeckers. 



Length: 9.00-10.00. 



Adult Male : Nape scarlet ; upper parts black, white stripe down the 



middle of the back ; wing-coverts lightly spotted with white ; outer 



primaries with white spots ; outer tail-feathers white ; under parts 



uniform gray, or pale grayish brown. 

 Adult Female: Similar, but with no scarlet. 



Young : Like adult, but forehead spotted with white, and crown scarlet. 

 Geographical Distribution: Pacific coast from Alaska south in winter as 



far as Monterey. 

 Breeding Range : In California, only the extreme northern part of the 



humid coast belt. 

 Breeding Season: April 15 to June 15. 

 Nest : An excavation in a dead tree. 

 Eggs: 4 to 5 ; glossy white. Size 0.98 X 0.70. 



The breeding range" of this species, according to Major 

 Bendire, is very limited and is co-extensive with its geo- 

 graphical distribution. It is a bird of the humid coast, 

 Transition, and Canadian zones, only remaining resident 

 in the northern part of California as far south as Hum- 

 boldt Bay. In winter it wanders to Monterey along the 

 humid coast belt. It corresponds in general habits to 

 the hairy woodpecker of the north and east, which rids 

 our orchards and forests of innumerable injurious larvae, 

 such as those of the boring beetle, etc. The food of the 

 Harris consists of spiders, ants, other insects, and cocoons, 

 besides larvae, and sometimes acorns and seeds. 



It is one of the earliest of the woodpeckers to breed, 

 the nest being completed in an old stump or dead tree 

 as early as April. The nesting habits are described as 



