BIRDS OF XOETIIEEK CANADA 373 



393a. ISToRTHEEN Hairy Woodpecker — Dryohates villosus 

 leucomelas (Bodd.). 



On the 6th of May, 1885, Mr. Reid discovered a nest in 

 a hole in a dry standing poplar tree near Fort Providence. 

 There were eight eggs therein, and the parent was seen and 

 shot. Dr. Bell hecame the intended recipient of both. At 

 Fort St. James, Stuart's Lake, on the 25th of May, 1889, 

 a native hunter found a nest holding four fresh eggs in a 

 similar position. Both parents in this instance were also 

 observed near by and shot. On 4th June, in the same 

 locality, an Indian girl brought us four eggs and a live 

 Sialia arctica, which she asserted to be one of the parent 

 birds. The nest was found in a hole in a dry pine tree, at 

 a height of several feet above the ground. She placed a 

 snare across the entrance thereto, and on going to visit it 

 soon after, she stated that she caught the bird with her hand 

 as she emerged therefrom on her approach. I could not, 

 however, believe that these large, apparently woodpecker eggs 

 belonged to so small and different a species, and after care- 

 fully identifying the bird I liberated it. Twenty days later 

 the contents (four eggs) of a third nest were obtained, but 

 the parent could not be secured, while they have been 

 receipted from Washington under this heading. All of the 

 nests in question had a small sprinkling of wood dust placed 

 beneath the eggs. 



Major Bendire states that Mr. Ross took a male near 

 Fort Simpson, Mackenzie River, on December 29th, 1860, 

 and Mr. McQuestion obtained a' female at Fort Reliance, 

 Upper Yukon River, on September 15th, 1878. Both speci- 

 mens are in the National Museum at Washington, D.C. 



The National Museum at Ottawa contains seven bird 

 specimens and but one set of eggs, taken near Toronto, and 

 presented by W. Raine ! 



