376 LAND BIRDS 



is from seven to thirty inches deep and about six inches 

 wide at the bottom, unlined save for a small amount of 

 chip-like sawdust. Like that of the flicker's nest, the 

 doorway is quite as apt to be oval as round, and is from 

 three to four inches in diameter. The eggs are from 

 three to five, glossy, transparent white, and become 

 opaque as incubation advances. 



407 a. CALIFORNIAN WOODPECKER.— Melanerpes 



formicivorus bairdi. 



Family : The Woodpeckers. 



Length: 8.50-9.50. 



Adult Male: Upper parts, sides of head and chest iridescent Hack ; 



chest streaked with white ; crown red ; feathers around base of bill 



black, bordered by band of white or yellow ; rump, wing-patch, and 



belly white. 

 Adult Female : Like male, but with red crown separated from the white 



or yellow forehead by a black hand. 

 Young : Like adults, but colors duller. 

 Geographical Distribution : Mexico and western border of United States 



from Western Texas to California, and north along Pacific coast to 



Southern Oregon ; south to Lower California. 

 California Breeding Range : Suitable localities in lower Transition zone 



west of the Sierra Nevada. 

 Breeding Season: April 15 to July 15. 



Nest: Cavity or excavation in trees, from 20 to 50 feet from the ground. 

 Eggs: 4 or 5 ; glossy white. Size 1.00 X 0.75. 



This is the Woodpecker most uniquely Western in all 

 his ways. He belongs exclusively to the oak belt and 

 can be found only where these trees are abundant. Not 

 at all shy, he seems to the Eastern bird-lover to replace 

 the redhead of the home forests, and his gay " wake-up, 

 wake-up," is a welcome greeting from an old friend. 

 Like the redhead, he is very emphatic in his manner of 



