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WOODPECKERS. 405 



Red-cockaded Woodpecker, Dryobates borealis Ridgw. I found this species 



rather abundantly in the flat pine woods from eastern Texas to Florida. It is a very 



lively species and quick in its motions, gliding upwards on the trees and sideways along 



the trunks and branches with great agility, uttering occasionally its loud and shrill 



call-notes, which can be heard at a considerable distance. The nest I usually found in 



a half decayed hmb of an oak tree or in an old stump. The bird is also said to 



excavate a nesting cavity in tall pine trees, living or dead, but I have never found it in 



such. As the wood of the southern pines is exceedingly hard, I do not believe that any 



Woodpecker excavates a nesting-site in these trees. It ranges from the Gulf of Mexico 



north to North Carolina, Tennessee, and the Indian Territory. 



DESCRIP'riON : A narrow red stripe on each side of the black hood of the head distinguishes this loud and 

 noisy soutljern species. 



Texan Woodpecker, Dryobates scalaris bairdi Ridgw., also known as the Ladder- 

 backed Woodpecker, inhabits the southern border of the United States, west to California, 

 north to southern Nevada and southern Utah. This beautiful and lively little bird 

 is an abundant inhabitant of the post Oak woods of central Texas. It is very similar 

 in all particulars to our common Downy Woodpecker. In winter it frequently visits 

 the ornamental plantations and orchards in company of Titmice, Nuthatches, Brown 

 Creepers, and Kinglets. The Saint LuCas Woodpecker, Dr. scalaris lucasanus Ridgw., 

 occurs in Lower California. 



Nuttall's Woodpecker, Dryobates nuttallii Ridgw., is found in southern Oregon 

 and California, and the Arizona Woodpecker, Dryobates arizonse Ridgw., in southern 

 Arizona and northern Mexico. All these small species agree with each other in their 

 habits and mode of living. 



The White-headed Woodpecker, Xenopicus albolarvatus Malherbe, is a very 

 beautiful species, deep bluish-black with a pure white head and pure white spot on the 

 primaries. It inhabits the mountains of the Pacific coast, from southern British Colum- 

 bia to southern California, east to central Idaho. It is said to haunt the groups of 

 big trees, the red-wood forest, and the woods of the Pinus ponderosa. 



The Arctic Three-toed Woodpecker, Picoides arcticus Gray, is a common species 

 in winter in northern Minnesota and Michigan, north to the Arctic regions. It is a 

 beautiful bird, on the upper parts mostly black, lower parts mostly white, with a bright 

 yellow forehead. 



Another species of this genus, the American Three-toed Woodpecker, Picoides 

 americanus Brehm, inhabits British America, east of the Rocky Mountains, from the 

 Arctic regions southward to the Northern United States(Maine, Massachusetts, New York). 

 Its variety, the Alaskan Three-toed Woodpecker, P. americanus alascensis Ridgw., 

 inhabits Alaska, south to northern Washington. The Alpine Three-toed Woodpecker, 

 P. americanus dorsalis Baird, is an inhabitant of the Rocky Mountain region, from 

 British Columbia and Idaho south into Mexico. 



