218 University of California Publications in Zoology [Vol. 24 



colored picoideus. Thus, sitkensis and harrisi are really far apart 

 genetically, and the appearance of sitkensis as a seeming intergrade 

 between monticola and harrisi must be explained on grounds other 

 than those of such actual intermediate relationship. Sitkensis, as an 

 offshoot of the white-breasted type of the interior, may have arrived at 

 the humid coast at too recent a date to be yet affected by its surround- 

 ings to the extent that harrisi and picoideus have been ; or it may be 

 more resistant to such an environment. In either case the slight modi- 

 fication of the clear white breast of monticola produced by the humid 

 surroundings would result in an apparent intergrade toward harrisi. 



In this connection it may be remarked that the highly distinctive 

 avifauna of the southeastern Alaskan coast is, for the most part, com- 

 posed of species that occur on the Pacific coast farther south and 

 extend northward along a narrow coastal strip, more or less modified 

 in appearance. Most of these birds extend farther north than does the 

 hairy woodpecker of the same region. Cyanocitta stelleri, Penthestes 

 rufes'cens, Junco oreganus, and the coastal forms of Melospiza melodia 

 are all birds of this type, and they all occur farther north than does 

 Dryobates villosus sitkensis. 



The latter apparently belongs to an aggregation of bird species 

 that has more recently invaded the coast from the eastward along a 

 few favorable avenues of approach. The northern limit reached in 

 such eases would be governed by the chance terminus of the route that 

 happened to open up from the eastward, with, of course, later exten- 

 sion from the new base. Other species in this same category are: 

 Dryobates pubescens, Piranga ludoviciana, Bombycilla cedrorum, 

 Empidonax tradlli, and perha'J)s Oeothlypis trichas. These birds are 

 for the most part not nearly so abundant in the coastal region, nor 

 are they so evenly distributed, as species of the first category listed. 



Fourteen specimens of Dryobates villosus monticola were collected 

 (nos. 39766-39779), eleven adults and three young. Twelve are from 

 Telegraph Creek, one from Doch-da-on Creek, and one from Flood 

 Glacier. 



Sphyrapicus varius varius (Linnaeus). Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 



On June 18 an adult male was taken. Immediately after this bird 

 was shot its mate appeared and disclosed the location of the nest. On 

 June 19 another male bird was taken within half a mile of where the 

 first was shot. This was about five miles from Telegraph Creek. The 

 nest referred to was twenty-five feet from the ground, in a dead birch 



