272 



NESTS AND EOGS OF 



404. WILLIAMSON'S SAPSTJCKER. Sphyrapicus thyroideus (Cass.) Geog. 

 Dist. — Western United States, from and inclusiv© of the Rocky Mountains to the 

 Pacific. 



This singular representative of the 

 Sphyrapicus, has a distribution extending 

 from the eastern slopes of the Rocky 

 Mountains to the Pacific coast in Oregon 

 aiid Calif ornia. The male and female of this 

 species are so different in coloration that 

 they were for a long time considered sepa- 

 rate species. Regions of coniferous trees 

 seem to be the favorite haunts of William- 

 son's Woodpecker. Dr. Merrill notes it as 

 not an uncommon resident in the vicinity ol 

 Fort Klamath, Oregon, but shy and very 

 suspicious. Two nests containing young 

 were found June 20 in large dead pines; 

 each were at a height of about sixty feet, 

 and inaciiessible. Mr. Dennis Gale, who 

 has given Major Bendire his observations 

 on the habits of this species in the moun- 

 tains of Colorado, says that the birds arf 

 as often met with in moderately thick 

 woods as in more open clearings. The 

 nesting sites are excavated in the trunks 

 of pine trees, at heights ranging from five 

 to sixty feet or more. Fresh eggs may be 

 looked for, according to altitude, from 

 May 20 to June 15. At Fort Klamath, 

 Major Bendire took the first set of eggs 

 June 3, 1883. Five or six are laid. They are pure white, a trifle less lustrous than 

 those of S. ruber, a little more elongated and pointed in shape, some approaching a 

 distinct ovate-pyriform or pear shape, a characteristic not apparently found in the 

 eggs of other species of the same genus. Major Bendire gives the average size of 

 seventeen specimens as .97x.67; the largest, 1.02x.68; the smallest,, .94x.67. 



405. PILEATED WOODPECKER. Ceoplilwus pUeatus (Linn.) Geog. Dist.— 

 Formerly entire North America in heavily-wooded districts, south of latitude 63°, 

 except in the southern Rocky Mountains; now rare or extirpated in the thickly 

 settled part of Eastern United States. 



Next in size to the Ivory-billed species is the Pileated Woodpecker, commonly 

 called Logcock. It was formerly common to the whole wooded region of North 

 America east of the .Rocky Mountains, but is now rare or absent in the thickly 

 settled portions of the Eastern States. In southern districts, midst timbered 

 swamps and heavy secluded woods it is still abundant. The nesting places are ex- 

 cavated usually in the main trunks of high trees, such s= oaks, sycamores, elms, 

 pines, etc. The height of the burrow from the ground ranges from twenty to eighty 

 feet. If inhabited, and the bird is at home, a rap upon the trunk of the tree will 

 generally bring this species to the entrance of the excavation. The eggs are from 

 three to five in number, glossy or china-white and average in size about 1.30x1.00 

 inches. 



404, Williamson's Safsucker. 



