376 THROUGH THE MACKEl^'ZIE BASIIT 



appear to me to come nearer to this species than to P. ameri- 

 canus alascensis, to which Mr. l^elson refers them. Mr. 

 MacFarlane also forwarded two sets of eggs, with the parents, 

 at the same time, and some of these are now in the United 

 States National Museum collection. A single egg, originally 

 from a set of three, taken on 10th May, 1863, accompanied 

 by the female bird, was taken from a cavity in a pine tree 

 four feet from the ground, and another set of four, of which 

 there are three eggs remaining, and likewise accompanied by 

 the male bird, was taken on 5th June, 1864, from a hole in 

 a dry spruce situated about six feet from the ground. The 

 eggs from the last set were said to have been lying on the 

 decayed dust of the tree and were perfectly fresh when 

 found. For some reason no mention has been made of these 

 eggs in the " History of North American Birds," although 

 they were in the collection when that work was written and 

 were correctly labelled." Mr. Ross's List contajins three 

 species of Picoidw. 



Bendire further adds : " The usual number of eggs laid 

 appears to be four, and both sexes assist in incubation. Mr. 

 MacFarlane, in his MS. notes, mentions finding a nest of 

 four young woodpeckers, in all probability of this species 

 (as one of these birds was seen in the vicinity on 21st June, 

 1862), which were then already apparently about a week 

 or ten days old. As incubation probaibly lasts about fourteen 

 days, the eggs must have been laid in the last week in May. 

 The eggs of this woodpecker are ovate in shape and pure 

 white in colour; the shell is fine grained and only moder- 

 ately glossy." There are neither birds nor eggs thereof in 

 the National Museum at Ottawa! 



401a. Alaskan Theee-toed Woodpeckee — Picoides ameri- 

 canus fasciatus (Baird). 



It is my belief that this particular woodpecker also 

 breeds in the valley of the Anderson, and that in all probabil- 

 ity some of the above-mentioned eggs really belonged thereto. 



