1922] Swarth: Birds aiid Mammals of the Stikine Region 219 



in rather open woods. The cavity appeared to be newly finished, and 

 was empty. The two birds at the nest drew attention to their presence 

 by their raucous call notes, screams worthy of a large hawk. The 

 second specimen collected was traced through his noisy drumming upon 

 a dead limb. 



These three sapsuekers were the only ones that were seen near 

 Telegraph Creek. The first one obtained (no. 39780) is close to typical 

 varius. It has no red on the nape, and the red chin and throat patch 

 is separated from the white subauricular stripe by a strip of black, 

 these characters being just as in varius. It has less white on the back 

 than most eastern examples of varius, but there is one specimen avail- 

 able from Illinois that resembles it closely. Taken by itself, this speci- 

 men would pass unquestioned as an example of varius. The mate of 

 this bird was not obtained, but it was seen for a brief moment close 

 enough to note that it had a great deal of red about the head, almost 

 obliterating the black pectoral patch. The one collected on June 19 

 (no. 39781) has the red nuchal- stripe, and the red of the chin and 

 throat has obliterated the black malar stripe, invaded the white sub- 

 auricular stripe beyond, and covers the entire black pectoral patch. 

 In the latter marking the black feathers are tipped with red; the 

 posterior border of this patch is sharply defined against the whitish 

 belly. The dorsal region is but scantily spotted with white. It is just 

 such a specimen as, taken in winter in California, would be defined 

 as an example of nuchalis showing a decided leaning toward ruier. 



Ridgway (1914) regards varius and ruber as specifically distinct. 

 In the upper Stikine Valley the two forms do appear to meet as sepa- 

 rate species, but intergradation through individual variation occurs 

 elsewhere and by that criterion the two should be regarded as subspecies 

 of one species. A parallel ease in the Stikine region is found in the 

 thrushes, Hylocichla ustulata ustulata and M. u. swainsoni. The facts 

 derived from our specimens of Sphyrapicus are as follows : At Tele- 

 graph Creek we took one typical example of varius, and one bird that 

 has more the appearance of a hybrid between two species (varius and 

 ruber) than an "intergrade" between two such forms, regarded as 

 subspecies. At Doch-da-on Creek, some fifty miles down the river, we 

 collected specimens of ruber, specimens absolutely typical of that form 

 (see posted, p. 220). We have here no series of intergrades, difficult of 

 allocation and from an intermediate region. There are instead ex- 

 amples of two extremes, varius and ruber, nesting within a short dis- 

 tance of each other. The one doubtful specimen does not accord with 



