274 



NESTS AND EQOS OF 



farms. The eggs are five or six in number; when fresh and before blowing, like 

 those of all Woodpeckers, show the yolk through the translucent shell, which gives 

 them a beautiful pinkish appearance. After blowing they are of a clear, glossy- 

 white. The average size is .99x. 78." 



i06. Red-headed Woodpecker (From Beal). 



407. ANT-EATIHG WOODPECKER. Melanerpes formicivorus (Swains.) 

 Geog. Dist. — ^Western Texas, New Mexico and Arizona, thence over the tablelands of 

 Mexico. 



Mr. W. H. Henshaw met with this species in the Rocky Mountain region of New 

 Mexico, near Santa Fe, where it frequented the small oak groves. Mr. W. E. D. 

 Scott states that the bird is a common resident of the Pinal and the Catalina Moun- 

 tains of Arizona, both In pine and oak regions as low as 4,000 feet. July 30, 1884, a 

 nest containing three half grown young was found; it was in a natural cavity of a 

 sycamore tree fifty feet from the ground. The number of eggs laid to a set is four 

 or five, rarely more. They are like the eggs of all woodpeckers, pure white and 

 glossy. The average measurement of nineteen specimens as given by Maj. Bendire 

 is l.OOx.75 Inches. 



4070. CALIFOBNIAIT WOODPBGKEB. Melanerpes formicirorus bairai Ridgw. 

 Geog. Dist. — Pacific coast region of the United States, from southern Oregon south 

 to Northern Lower California and Mexico, east through Arizona to Southern Mexico 

 land Western Texas. 



This subspecies of the Pacific coast region has ta« ^ame general habitis as M. 

 formicivorus. 



