231 
404. Williamson's Sapsucker. cut-throat sapsucker. Sphyrapicus thyroideus. 
L, 9-50. The male is a very distinctive bird. The species is notable for the extraordinary 
sexual difference in coloration. Male : solid black, except white rump, wing-covert patch, 
and two sharp lines on face; abdomen sharply defined lemon yellow, and a narrow, blood-red 
dash on the centre of the throat down from bill. Female: back, wings, and flanks regularly 
and sharply barred with narrow lines of black and white, having an appearance of being 
wound around with black and white worsted; black breast and throat patch, and yellow 
abdominal patch. Head mostly dull white or dirty brown. The black breast patch may 
be absent, and there may be indications of the red dash on the throat. 
Distinctions, Unmistakable for any other species. The solidly black back, with 
contrasting white rump of the male, and the regular barring of the back. of the female, are 
distinctive. 
Field Marks. The general blackness of the male, with conspicuous white wing patch 
and rump, and the barred back and white rump of the female make good field marks. 
The female is strongly suggestive of a Flicker, especially in flight, when the white rump 
shows. 
Nesting. In holes excavated in trees and stubs. 
Distribution. The western mountain forests of North America, from southern British 
Columbia to New Mexico. Range very local and restricted in Canada. Recorded only 
from some of the higher tamarack forests near the southern boundary, from Okanagan 
valley to the Alberta line. 
Too rare in Canada, and so confined to the wilder elevations as to have 
little economic influence. 
405. Pileated Woodpecker (Including Northern and Western Pileated Wood- 
peckers). cock-of-the-woods. log-cock (incorrectly, woodcock). Phloeotomus 
pileatus. L, 17. Plate XXXVI A. A very large Woodpecker, coloured in broad masses of 
black and white and with a conspicuous, pointed, brilliant red crest. 
Distinctions. By far the largest Woodpecker in Canada, it can be confused with no 
other Canadian species. 
Field Marks. A Woodpecker almost as large as a Crow, with striking, pointed red 
crest, and loud, characteristic cries. 
Nesting. In holes excavated in dead trees and stubs. 
Distribution. The northern forests across the continent, south along the mountains. 
SUBSPECIES. Four subspecies of the Pileated Woodpecker are recognized in the 
Check-list, two of which are accredited to Canada. The Northern Pileated Woodpecker 
Phloeotomus pileatus abieticola is the form of eastern Canada, extending west. The 
Western Pileated Phloeotomus pileatus pidnus is accredited to the west coast mountains, 
Alberta, and probably farther east. It is described as being slightly smaller and darker 
(browner), with the whites restricted. These distinctions are very slight, however, and 
are average rather than individual. 
In the east, on account of the wanton destruction, this once much 
more widely distributed bird is to be found only in the quiet of the more 
northern woods. Even there, visitors and deer hunters could not resist 
the temptation of taking so spectacular a trophy home with them, and it 
was being rapidly reduced in number until the provisions of the Migratory 
Birds Convention Act extended practical protection over it. In the west, 
things have not gone so far, and, especially in the mountain and coast 
districts, it may still be seen in close proximity to civilization. It is a bird 
typical of the deep woods. It visits the rotten logs in the damp, shadowy 
undergrowth, and, with its powerful bill, tears and scatters them about 
in fragments for the grubs contained. These habits are the origin of the 
common vernacular names, Cock of the Woods and Log-cock, wh’ch have 
often been corrupted into Woodcock, a name already applied to an entirely 
different bird, and the source of much confusion and misunderstanding. 
Its principal value is that of a forest conserver, and it should be protected 
for economic as well as aesthetic reasons. 
