Nov., 1901. 
THE CONDOR 
163 
opportunity to attack the female woodpecker when she came to feed her young. 
However both species reared their young successfully. The white-headed wood- 
pecker is one of the quaintest-looking and most interesting birds of the region. 
[Common in Take Valley and about Fallen Leaf Lake, as well as everywhere 
in the range of the 5^ellow pine. I have never noted it above 7000 feet. 
— W. W. P.] 
Picoides arcticus. Alpine Three-toed Woodpecker. [A pair was collected on 
Silver Creek, west of Pyramid Peak, in August 1896. The same month a young- 
bird was shot at 9,000 feet on Pyramid Peak. In July 1898 two young were shot 
at the head of Glen Alpine gorge. They were feeding in a grove of alpine hem- 
lock.— W. W. P.] 
Sphyrapicus ruber. Red -breasted Sapsucker. A common Transition species. 
On June ii, 1897 Mr. Carriger and I found a nest 40 feet up in a dead, barkless 
pine in a ravine at Fyffe. It contained young whose “screeping” notes could be 
heard whenever the parents alighted on the stub. The old birds were not an- 
noyed by our presence, going promptly to the cavity with their supply of food. I 
have observed the species up as far as Echo. 
Sphyrapicus thyroideus. Williamson Sapsucker. OnJune9, 1900 Mr. Atkin- 
son and I observed a female drilling its nesting-hole in a red hr on the meadow at 
the base of Pyramid Peak. I shot a female at 7,200 feet altitude on June 14, 1901 
and do not think it is found below Echo. Mr. Taylor collected an immature fe- 
male at Cascade Lake Aug. 8. 
Ceophlceus pileatus abieticola. Northern Pileated Woodpecker. Not uncom- 
mon. 1 observed several in the tall dead pines but all were extremely wary. 
When I hrst heard it drumming at Fyffe early one morning its “tapping” was a 
revelation and could be heard a great di.stance in the woods. Mr. Beck collected 
a female at F'yffe and Mr. Piice’s assistant found a ne.st containing young on June 
June 13, 1897. Taylor collected a male at Gilmore Springs near Tallac vSept. 
2, 1901. 
Melanerpes formicivorus bairdi. California Woodpecker. Recf)rded from 
near Placerville by Mr. C. A. Swisler. 
Melanerpes torquatus. I^ewis Woodpecker. Personally 1 have not observed 
this woodpecker on the west slope of the range, though it would be expected to 
occur. Mr. Beck found it common and breeding about Bijou on Lake Tahoe in 
the summer of 1896, and Mr. Taylor collected two immature females at Grass l^ake 
near Glen Alpine on Sept. 20, 190T. 
Colaptes cafer collaris. Red-shafted Flicker. Common in the wof)ded districts 
from the lower foot hills up to at least 9,000 feet. One specimen which I shot was 
smeared with pitch from the pines and of a dark color, due doubtless to its contact 
with burnt trees. WJule climbing Pyramid Peak on June 10, 1900 Mr. Atkinson 
found a nest of this flicker in a stub of a white-bark pine at about 9,200 feet alti- 
tude. The nest was ten feet up and contained six eggs, almost fresh. The parent 
bird was extremely wild and did not seem to venture near the stub during our 
stay on the peak. 
Phalaenoptilus nuttalli californicus. Dusky Poor- will. One heard at Fyffe 
on the night of June 19, 1896. We were camped on the edge of a clearing and 
had just retired, the moon brilliantly lighting the open space, when the call of a 
poor-will came to us from across the clearing in the .shadow. It was repeated 
several times when the bird departed. Mr. Taylor collected a female at Meyer’s 
Station in Lake Valley on Sept. 2, 1901. 
Chordeiles virginianus. Nighthawk. Not ob.served on the west slope from 
