266 



NESTS AND EOGS OP 



latter by the wbite or dull bufC nasal tufts and the markings of the ta;il feathers. 

 The bird Is of the same size as the Downy Woodpecker of the Eastern States, and has 

 many of its characteristics, familiarly searching the orchards, stumps of trees and 

 fence rails for insects and their larvse. Mr. Walter B. Bryant found a nest of this 

 species on Mt. Diablo, California, May 29, 1880. It was in a cavity picked between 

 the body and the bark of an oak stump, fifteen feet from the ground. The opening 

 was very difficult to find. The male bird was sitting, and flew from the stump as Mr. 

 Bryant approached, and he was obliged to wait for its return before the entrance 

 could be located. The cavity wa^ about twelve inches deep and four inches inside 

 diameter; diameter of the entrance was about one inch and a half. The nest con- 

 tained four glistening, white eggs; their sizes being as follows: 24x17.5, 23x17, 



397. Home of Nuttall's Woodpecker (From 7'ke Nidologisl). 



23x17.5, 23.5x.17 millimeters.* Mr. B. T. Gault on April 23, 1883, obtained a set of six 

 eggs of this species from a cavity in the main trunk of an elder bush or tree in the 

 San Bernardino Valley. Notwithstanding various loud demonstrations— tapping on 

 the tree trunk and chopping into the cavity with a hatchet the female bird did not 

 leave the nest, and when taken out appeared stupefied. The nest was about five and 

 a half feet from the ground, was very nearly a toot deep and about five inches wide; 



• .94X.69, .91X.67, .91X.69, .93X.67, 



