96 LIFE HISTOEIES OP NOETH AMEBIC AN BIRDS. 



book at the very time, but scarcely ever put them down aHke; each time they 

 appeared a trifle diflferent to the ear, and it is a hard matter to express them 

 exactly on paper. 



The eggs, when fresh and before blowing, like those of all Woodpeckers, 

 show the yolk through the translucent shell, giving them a beautiful pinkish 

 appearance, as well as a series of straight lines or streaks, of a more pronounced 

 white than the rest of the shell, i-unning toward and converging at the smaller 

 axis of the egg. After blowing, the pink tint will be found to have disappeared 

 and the egg changed to a pure, delicate white, the shell showing a moderate 

 amount of luster. There is considerable variation in their shape, runnuig as 

 they do through all the different ovates to an elongated ovate. 



Both sexes assist in incubation, which lasts from twelve to fourteen days, 

 I think. Their food consists principally of grubs, larvae of insects, ants, various 

 species of lepidoptera, which they catch on the wing, like Flycatchers, and 

 berries. Of the latter quite a number of different edible species are found 

 about Fort Klamath, and they seem to be especially fond of wild strawberries, 

 which grow there in abundance The young, after leaving the nest, stick to the 

 tree in which they were hatched for the first day or two, without venturing to fly. 



The beautiful carmine or crimson on the head and breast in the adults is 

 replaced by claret-brown in the young, varying in amount and intensity in 

 different individuals ; in some it is very distinct and prevalent. The yellow, so 

 plainly noticeable on the belly of adult birds, is also wanting in the young. 

 The colors throughout are much duller and the general pattern less distinct. 

 By the latter part of September the majority of these birds leave for their 

 winter haunts, only a few stragglers remaining. These are possibly birds that 

 breed farther northward and winter in the warm valleys of northern California, 

 and are then comparatively near the end of their migration, remaining in the 

 Klamath Valley region, where there is always an abundance of food for the 

 Woodpecker family, judging from the number of different species of these birds 

 found there throughout the year, till the heavy winter snows drive out the less 

 hardy, among which the Red-breasted Sapsucker must be included. 



While stationed at Fort Klamath, Oregon, I took especial pains to collect a 

 good series of both adult and young birds of this species, as well as a number of 

 sets of their eggs, and devoted considerable time, at no little inconvenience to 

 myself, to observe their general habits closely. Although my personal observa- 

 tions differ materially from those of other naturalists (see 'History of North 

 American Birds,' by Baird, Brewer, and Ridgway, Vol. II, pp. 544 and 545), I 

 am confident that they will be found substantially correct by future observers. 



The average measurement of seventy-two specimens in the United States 

 National Museum collection is 23.37 by 17.58 millimetres, or about 0.92 by 0.69 

 inch. The largest egg of the series measures 25.40 by 17.78 millimetres, or 

 1.00 by 0.70 inch; the smallest, 21.84 by 17.27 millimeters, or 0.86 by 0.68 inch. 



The type specimen. No. 19395 (not figured), from a set of six eggs, was 

 taken by the writer near Fort Klamath, Oregon, on May 23, 1883. 



