WOODPECKERS 
Pigeon Woodpecker and Yellow-hammer seem 
to be the most universal. They have the undu- 
lating flight common to all Woodpeckers and 
show the white rump patch conspicuously when 
flying. They are often found on the ground in 
pastures or on side hills, feeding upon ants; 
they are more terrestrial than any others of 
the family. They nest anywhere, where they 
can find or make a suitable cavity for the re- 
ception of their eggs; in trees in woods or sol- 
itary trees in large pastures, in apple trees in 
orchards, in fence posts, in holes under the 
roofs, of buildings, etc. They ordinarily lay 
from five to ten very glossy eggs, but it has 
been found that they will continue laying, if 
one egg is removed from the nest at a time, 
until in one case seventy-one eggs were secur- 
ed. Fresh eggs may be found at any time from 
May until August, as they frequently raise two 
broods a season. Size of eggs, 1.10 x .90 with 
considerable variations. 
412a. Northern Flicker. Colaptes aara- 
tus luteus. 
Range. — Whole of North America, east of the Rockies, except the southeast- 
ern portion. 
Averaging larger than the preceding, but individual specimens of the north- 
ern variety are frequently found to be even smaller than the southern, and vice 
versa, making the distinction one of the study rather than Nature. 
413. Red-shafted Flicker. 
Colaptes cafer collaris. 
Range. — United States west of the Rockies. 
This species is marked similarly to the pre- 
ceding, but the top of the head is brownish in- 
stead of gray, and the underparts of the wings 
and tail, and their quills are reddish. Neither 
sex has the red crescent 
on the back of the head, 
except in the case of hy- 
brids between the two 
species, but the male has 
red moustache marks. 
There are no differences . m* 
in. the nidification be- 
tween this species and 
the preceding, but the White 
eggs of this average a trifle larger (1.15 x. 90). 
413a. Northwestern Flicker. Colaptes 
cafer saturatior. 
Range. — Pacific coast, breeding from Oregon to Alaska. 
This is a much darker variety of the Red-shafted Flicker, but its nesting habits 
or eggs do not differ in any way. 
Northern Flicker 
259 
