decayed limb of tree, usually at moderate height, unlined. _Eggs_:
4-6, white. Av. size, .75 × .59 (19.1 × 15).
General Range.—Middle and northern portions of United States and
northward; of casual occurrence in the Pacific Northwest.
Range in Washington.—One example, Seattle, Feb. 20, 1892, by S. F.
Rathbun.
Authorities.—_Dryobates pubescens_ (Linn.), Bendire, Life Hist. N. A.
Birds, Vol. II. 1895, pp. 55, 56. Ra.
Specimens.—P¹(?). C. E.
On the 20th of February, 1892, Mr. S. F. Rathbun took what is considered
to be a typical specimen, a female, of this species, near Seattle; and
on the 23rd of March, 1896, I took one at Chelan which belongs either to
this or to the more recently elaborated _D. p. nelsoni_. Apart from _D.
gairdnerii_, whose center of distribution, at least, is pretty well
known, great confusion exists in our knowledge of _Dryobates pubescens_
and its varieties in the Northwest. Downy Woodpeckers are not migratory,
but they rove considerably in winter, and the most we can say of these
Washington specimens is that they point to the presence of _D.
pubescens_ or _D. p. nelsoni_, or both, as resident birds in British
Columbia.
No. 166.
BATCHELDER’S WOODPECKER.
A. O. U. No. 394b. Dryobates pubescens homorus (Cab.).
Synonym.—Rocky Mountain Downy Woodpecker.
Description.—Similar to _D. p. medianus_, but larger, clearer white
below, and with less white spotting on wing, that of middle and
greater coverts reduced or wanting. Length: 6.75-7.50 (171.5-190.5);
wing 4.00 (101.6); tail 2.65 (67.3); bill .73 (18.5).
Recognition Marks.—As in preceding; white spotting of wing reduced as
compared with _D. p. medianus_; underparts _clear white_ as compared
with _D. p. gairdnerii_.
Nesting.—_Nest_ and _Eggs_ as in preceding. _Season_: May; one brood.
General Range.—Rocky Mountain region of western United States and
British Columbia, west to eastern slopes of Cascade-Sierra Range.
Range in Washington.—East-side, not uncommon resident, especially in
valleys of more heavily timbered section; intergrades with next form
on eastern slopes of Cascades.
Authorities.—Dawson, Auk, Vol. XIV. 1897, p. 174. J. E(H).
Specimens.—U. of W. Prov.
In the nature of the case the line of demarcation cannot be clearly
drawn between this species and the more abundant Gairdner’s. Specimens
taken by Dr. J. C. Merrill, U. S. A., at Fort Sherman, Idaho, near our
eastern boundary, were doubtfully referred to this subspecies, and
really represent intergrades between _homorus_ and _gairdnerii_. I have
seen specimens in Spokane County which favored this form, in the
whiteness of the underparts, much more strongly than _gairdnerii_.
Moreover, Batchelder’s Woodpecker, if it be he, is not nearly so common
in the pine and larch districts of the extreme Northeast, as is the
Rocky Mountain Hairy. In the course of a two-weeks’ trip along the Pend
d’Oreille in May and June we encountered it only once. Bendire met with
Downy Woodpeckers of some sort near Walla Walla, but found them of rare
occurrence and confined to the willows of stream banks.
No. 167.
GAIRDNER’S WOODPECKER.
A. O. U. No. 394a. Dryobates pubescens gairdnerii (Aud.).
Description.—Similar to _D. p. homorus_, but white spotting of wing
still further reduced, usually wanting on coverts; underparts smoky
gray; under tail-coverts spotted or barred with black. Length of adult
about as in _D. p. medianus_.
Recognition Marks.—Sparrow size; black-and-white pattern of head;
white back contrasting with black scapulars, etc.; much the commonest
woodpecker; wing scarcely spotted as compared with _D. p. medianus_;
underparts smoky as compared with _D. p. homorus_.
Nesting.—_Nest_: A hole, usually in deciduous tree, some 20 feet up.
_Eggs_: 4-6, glossy crystalline white; rounded ovate in shape. Av.
size, .74 × .56 (18.8 × 14.2). _Season_: c. May 1st; one brood.
General Range.—Pacific coast district from southern California north
to British Columbia; extends somewhat beyond eastern slopes of
mountain ranges southerly, shades into _D. p. homorus_ along ridge of
Cascades northerly.
Range in Washington.—West-side, common resident, especially in lowland
groves and about clearings; occupies eastern slopes of Cascades
southerly.
Authorities.—_Picus gairdneri_, Audubon, Orn. Biog. V. 1839, 317. T.
C&S. Rh. Kb. Ra. D². Ss². Kk. B. E.
Specimens.—U. of W. Prov. B. E.
[Illustration: GAIRDNER WOODPECKER.]
The local representative of the widespread Downy type is a perfect
miniature of the more abundant Harris Woodpecker, even in flight and
voice; and to the same causes must be attributed the soiling of a bosom
once immaculate. Unlike his greater double, however, Gairdner’s
Woodpecker is for the most part confined to deciduous timber, and shows
a great preference for wooded bottoms and the borders of streams. Here
his industrious tap, tap and cheery _pink_ notes may be heard not alone
from the trunks of trees, but from the smaller branches. These he traces
to the very end in a search for lurking grub or nit.
The presence of this bird is a benediction in an orchard, for he
inspects every niche and crevice of a fruit tree, and if he finds
deep-seated troubles, the holes he drives are as necessary as the
physician’s lancet. But folks still call them “sapsuckers,” and shoot
their little benefactors. Such people should be fined, for a first
offense; and the fine remitted only in case they agree to “read up.” For
a second offense—Well, I believe in capital punishment myself.
The little Downies, strictly resident, as they are, wherever found, are
not so hardly put to it to subsist in winter here as they are north and
east. If grubs are scarce there are always edible berries and seeds to
fall back on. Yet Gairdners relish nuts or a bit of suet hung out in
winter time; and if the would-be patron be not too eager in first
advances a very pretty friendship may be established in the course of a
season.
Also, because of the season’s mildness, winter bird troupes are not such
an important institution as in the frigid East. But wherever Kinglets,
Juncoes, Creepers, Wrens, and Chickadees do associate together for
benevolent offense and defense, there is Downy in the midst,—and one can
hardly help adding (the Master would be the last to forbid it) “and that
to bless.”
It is at times difficult to distinguish, in the case of the _pink_ notes
and the longer rattling call, between the voices of this bird and the
Harris, but the notes of the smaller bird are usually much less in
volume and strength, and have a rather more nasal quality. All
Woodpeckers have also a sort of signal system, or Morse code, consisting
of sundry tattoos on resonant wood. These calls are used principally, or
exclusively, during the mating season, and consist, in the case of the
Gairdner, of six or seven taps in regular and moderate succession. The
birds have favorite places for the production of these sounds; and it is
probable that birds are able to distinguish their calling mates by the
timbre of the smitten wood, as well as by some subtle variation of tempo
which escapes unfamiliar ears.
Gairdners place their nests at inconsiderable heights in deciduous
trees, and those, if possible, among thick growths on moist ground. Both
sexes assist in excavation, as in incubation. Partially decayed wood is
selected and an opening made about an inch and a quarter in diameter.
After driving straight in an inch or two, the passage turns down and
widens two or three diameters. At a depth of a foot or so the crystal
white eggs are deposited on a neat bed of fine chips. Incubation lasts
twelve days and the young are hatched about the 1st of June.
Mr. Bowles asserts that when a tree containing eggs is rapped the
sitting bird will try, sometimes successfully, to deceive the inquirer
by coming to the entrance and dropping out a mouthful of chippings, thus
conveying the impression that she is still building. It’s a shame to
give it away.
No. 168.
WHITE-HEADED WOODPECKER.
A. O. U. No. 399. Xenopicus albolarvatus (Cass.).
Description.—_Adult male_: Body plumage and tail glossy black; wings
dull black with large blotch of white on median portion of inner
primaries and secondaries, and some disconnected white spotting
distally; throat and entire head (not deeply) white; a scarlet patch
on nape. Bill and feet slaty black; iris red. _Female_: Exactly as
male _without_ scarlet nuchal band. Length: 9.00-9.50 (228.6-241.3);
wing 5.15 (130.8); tail 3.50 (88.9).
Recognition Marks.—Chewink to Robin size; white head unique.
Nesting.—_Nest_: A hole in live pine tree at moderate height. _Eggs_:
3-7, usually 4, pure white. Av. size, .95 × .71 (24.1 × 18). _Season_:
June-July, according to altitude; one brood.
General Range.—Mountains of the Pacific Coast States north into
British Columbia, east to Idaho and Utah.
Range in Washington.—Resident in the mountains, chiefly east of the
Cascade summit.
Authorities.—_Picus albolarvatus_, Baird, Rep. Pac. R. R. Surv. IX.
1858, p. 97. C&S. D¹. D². J.
Specimens.—Prov. C.
There is a Gray’s Harbor record for this bird, but the occurrence is
unique west of the Cascades. So far as our experience goes, the
White-head is to be looked for only in the pine timber which clothes the
eastern slopes of the Cascades and their outliers. The range of the
species extends casually northward into British Columbia, but the
southern boundary of Oregon is nearer its center of distribution, and
the birds decrease rapidly in numbers north of the Peshastin Range in
Washington.
At first glance we would say that this bird eschews protective
coloration altogether, but Mrs. Bailey argues that even black and white
are not very conspicuous colors under our interior sun, and claims that
the bird gains inattention from its very unbirdlikeness. Dr. Merrill,
who made a most satisfactory study of this species near Fort Klamath in
Oregon, regards the bird in winter as the very simulacrum of a broken
branch strongly shadowed, and crowned with snow.
Concerning its food habits, Dr. Merrill says[71]; “I have rarely heard
the Woodpecker hammer, and even tapping is rather uncommon. So far as I
have observed, and during the winter I watched it carefully, its
principal supply of food is obtained in the bark, most of the pines
having a very rough bark, scaly and deeply fissured. The bird uses its
bill as a crowbar, rather than as a hammer or chisel, prying off the
successive scales and layers of bark in a very characteristic way. This
explains the fact of its being such a quiet worker, and, as would be
expected, it is most often seen near the base of the tree, where the
bark is thickest and roughest. It must destroy immense numbers of
_Scolytidæ_, whose larvæ tunnel the bark so extensively, and of other
insects that crawl beneath the scales of bark for shelter during winter.
I have several times imitated the work of this bird by prying off the
successive layers of bark, and have been astonished at the great number
of insects, and especially of spiders, so exposed. As a result of this,
and of its habit of so searching for food, the White-headed Woodpeckers
killed here were loaded with fat to a degree I have never seen equalled
in any land bird, and scarcely surpassed by some Sandpipers in autumn.”
The White-headed Woodpecker is a quiet bird in manner and voice. I have
never heard it utter a sound even in the presence of a nest robber but
it is said to have “a sharp, clear ‘_witt-witt’_” which it uses after
the fashion of the Harris Woodpecker, when it flies from tree to tree.
The bird is quite wary; but when it cherishes suspicions, it flies away
composedly, with no such air of ostentatious offense as Harris indulges
on occasion.
The first nest reported from this State was found on July 22nd, 1896, in
the valley of the Methow, where this Woodpecker is not at all common.
The entrance showed like a clean-cut augur hole, one and five-eighths
inches in diameter, driven in a live pine; and was reached conveniently
from horseback. Four fresh eggs lay on a bed of chips, some eight inches
down, and they were remarkable only for a somewhat uniform distribution
of sparse, black spots,—probably dots of adherent pitch, derived from
the chips, and soiled to blackness by contact with the sitting bird.
No. 169.
ARCTIC THREE-TOED WOODPECKER.
A. O. U. No. 400. Picoides arcticus Swains.
Synonym.—Black-backed Three-toed Woodpecker.
Description.—_Adult male_: Upperparts glossy blue-black, duller on
flight feathers; primaries and outer secondaries with paired spots of
white on edges of outer and inner webs; a squarish crown-patch of
yellow (cadmium orange); a small post-ocular spot of white, a
transverse white cheek-stripe meeting fellow on forehead and cut off
by black malar stripe from white of throat and remaining underparts;
sides heavily barred or mingled with blue-black. Bill and feet
plumbeous black; iris brown. _Adult female_: Like male, without yellow
crown-patch. Length 9.00-10.25 (228.6-260.4); wing 5.25 (133.3); tail
3.50-4.00 (88.9-101.6); bill 1.25 (31.7).
Recognition Marks.—Chewink to Robin size; yellow crown-patch of male;
back without white as compared with _P. americanus fasciatus_; and
black of head continuous with that of back as compared with the
_Dryobates villosus_ group.
Nesting.—Not known to breed in Washington, but probably does so.
_Nest_: hole in pine or fir stub, 10-18 inches deep. _Eggs_: 4-6,
white, moderately glossed. Av. size, .96 × .72 (24.4 × 18.3).
_Season_: last week in May, June; one brood.
General Range.—Northern North America from the Arctic regions south to
northern tier of states, and in the Sierra Nevada to Lake Tahoe, south
in New England and in Alleghany Mountains in winter, but breeding
thruout western range.
Range in Washington.—Rare resident in coniferous forests of the
central Cascades.
Authorities.—[“Black-backed three-toed woodpecker,” Johnson, Rep. Gov.
W. T. 1884 (1885), 22.] Bendire. Life Hist. N. A. Birds, Vol. II.
1895, p. 74. E.
Specimens.—U. of W. Prov. C. E.
The Black-backed Woodpecker should occur in all our mountains, and
especially upon the pine-timbered slopes of the eastern Cascades and in
the Blue Mountains. It must, however, be considered rather rare, for we
have never met with it afield, and have records of only two specimens,
one taken at Glacier and the other near Lake Kichelas. The species is
practically non-migratory and should breed wherever it occurs. It is
ordinarily a very quiet bird, devoting itself assiduously to its search
for tree-boring insects and their larvæ, chiefly _Buprestidæ_ and
_Cerambycidæ_; and at other than breeding seasons appears stolidly to
ignore the presence of strangers. Its note is described as a sharp,
shrill “_chirk, chirk_”; and it is besides a most persistent drummer,
rattling away at a single station for minutes at a time, so that the
ornithologist who is suspicious may follow the lead from a half mile’s
distance.
Nesting is chiefly at moderate heights—from two and a half to eight feet
from the ground, Bendire says; so that there ought not to be any
difficulty in studying this species once it is found.
No. 170.
ALASKAN THREE-TOED WOODPECKER.
A. O. U. No. 401 a. Picoides americanus fasciatus Baird.
Synonym.—Ladder-backed Three-toed Woodpecker.
Description.—_Adult male_: Upperparts chiefly black, the back strongly
barred with white, these bars more or less confluent centrally;
flight-feathers marked with paired white spots, and wing-coverts
sometimes more or less spotted with white; two central pairs of
tail-feathers black, the next succeeding pair black mingled with
white, and the remaining pairs pure white; a squarish yellow patch on
crown; a distinct white post-ocular stripe extending to nape; a broad
white stripe from lore to side of neck; underparts white, the sides
and flanks heavily but narrowly barred with black. Bill and feet
plumbeous black; iris brown. _Adult female_: Similar but without
yellow crown patch; sometimes largely white on crown. Length of adult:
8.00-9.50 (203.2-241.3); wing 4.60 (116.8); tail 3.60 (91.4); bill
1.20 (30.5).
Recognition Marks.—Chewink to Robin size; lustrous black above with
central white in broad _bars_; sides black-and-white barred.
Nesting.—_Nest_: In hole at various heights. _Eggs_: usually 4, white.
Av. size, .92 × .70 (23.4 × 17.8). _Season_: June; one brood.
General Range.—Timbered mountains of northern Washington, British
Columbia and Alaska.
Range in Washington.—Sparingly resident in northern Cascades.
Authorities.—Brewster, Auk, X. July, 1893, pp. 236, 237.
Specimens.—Prov. C.
This is a permanent resident of the Hudsonian zone on the Mt. Baker
range both north and south of the international boundary; also at lower
elevations on Vancouver Island and on Salt Springs Island, Gulf of
Georgia. Further in the interior it is of irregular distribution, being
in some districts replaced by _Picoides arcticus_, and in others
occupying the same localities as that species. I have no records for
_arcticus_ west of the Cascade range. At one time I was convinced that
the Alaskan Three-toed Woodpecker occupied a higher breeding zone than
the Black-backed species (_arcticus_), but had to modify this opinion on
finding a pair of _fasciatus_ breeding in the low hills back of Clinton,
where one would hardly expect to find any three-toed woodpecker. Usually
the species is found in the gloomy forests of balsam, spruce, and
hemlock, and up to timber line. Here it is a silent bird, its tapping
being usually the only sign of its presence.
The cry is a sharp cluck without the insistent ring of its allies of the
_Dyrobates_ group. In spring the usual chattering cry, common to so many
woodpeckers, is heard, but this is more subdued and guttural than that
of the Hairy Woodpecker. The males will also hang for hours on some dead
spire beating the regular rattling tattoo of all true woodpeckers.
When shot, even if instantly killed, three-toed woodpeckers of both
species have a marvelous faculty of remaining clinging to the tree in
death. Where the trunks are draped with _Usnea_ moss, it is impossible
to bring one down, except when winged—then they attempt to fly, and fall
to earth; but when killed outright they remain securely fastened by
their strong curved claws. Repeated shots fail to dislodge them, and it
is no joke to drop a big tree with a camp axe, as I have done, only to
find at the finish that you cannot discover the object of your quest in
the tangle of broken branches and dense rhododendron scrub. The only
chance is to leave the bird and to visit the foot of the tree when the
relaxing muscles have at length permitted the body to drop—usually
within two days. Once I was fortunate enough to observe the exact
position that enabled the bird to maintain its grip. I had shot and
killed an Arctic Three-toed Woodpecker on a low stump. On going up I
found the bird’s feet to be three inches apart by measurement; the tail
was firmly braced, and the further the body was tilted back the more
firmly the claws held in the bark.
Allan Brooks.
No. 171.
RED-NAPED SAPSUCKER.
A. O. U. No. 402 a. Sphyrapicus varius nuchalis Baird.
Description.—_Adult male_: Pileum, throat, and nuchal band carmine (or
poppy-red to crimson); crown and throat patches defined by black,
narrowly on sides, broadly behind, the black border of throat below
forming a conspicuous crescentic chest-band; a white streak over and
behind eye, more or less continuous with black-and-white mottling of
upper-back; a transverse stripe from nostril around throat and chest,
and continuous with white of underparts; remaining upperparts black,
variously spotted, banded, and blotched with white; middle coverts and
upper tail-coverts nearly pure white, the first-named forming with the
exposed edges of the greater coverts a broad white wing-band;
underparts centrally pure white or flushed with sulphur-yellow; sides,
flanks, and under tail-coverts heavily barred, or marked chiefly in
hastate pattern, with black. Bill and feet slaty black; iris brown.
_Adult female_: Like male but carmine nuchal patch reduced or wanting;
throat-patch reduced by white of chin. In _young birds_ the areas of
red are much reduced (wanting except on crown?) the throat being
clouded with dusky instead. Length about 8.50 (215.9); wing 5.00
(127); tail 3.20 (81.3); bill 1.00 (25.4).
Recognition Marks.—Chewink size; highly variegated black, white, and
red (and sometimes tinged with yellow below); red throat-patch defined
by black (or white above in female) distinctive.
Nesting.—_Nest_: A gourd-shaped excavation in decaying wood of live
aspen tree, 5 to 30 feet up; entrance 1½ inches wide; hole 8-10 inches
deep; no lining. _Eggs_: 3-6, white, moderately glossed, ovate to
elliptical ovate. Av. size, .90 × .67 (22.9 × 17). _Season_: June
1-15; one brood.
General Range.—Rocky Mountain and adjacent ranges from Arizona and New
Mexico north to about Lat. 54° in Alberta and British Columbia; west
to eastern slopes of Cascade Mountains in Washington and Oregon and to
the Sierra Nevada; in winter south to Lower California and Mexico;
casual in Kansas.
Range in Washington.—In general, in the hilly country of the
northeastern part of the State and in the Blue Mountains; commonly
along river bottoms in Stevens County; rare or casual on eastern
slopes of the Cascades.
Authorities.—Bendire, Auk, Vol. V. July, 1888, 226. Sr¹. J.
Specimens.—Prov. C.
The western variety of the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker differs only
slightly from the eastern bird in appearance, and not at all in
disposition. Of _varius_ I have already said[72]:
Before the maple sap has ceased running, our woods are invaded from the
south by a small army of hungry Sapsuckers. The birds are rather
unsuspicious, quiet, and sluggish in their movements. Their common note
is a drawling and petulant _kee-a_, like that of a distant Hawk; but
they use it rather to vent their feelings than to call their fellows,
for altho there may be twenty in a given grove, they are only chance
associates and have no dealings one with another. Starting near the
bottom of a tree, one goes hitching his way up the trunk, turns a lazy
back-somersault to reinspect some neglected crevice, or leaps out into
the air to capture a passing insect. The bulk of this bird’s food,
however, at least during the migration, is secured at the expense of the
tree itself. The rough exterior bark layer, or cortex of, say, a maple,
is stripped off, and then the bird drills a transverse series of oval or
roughly rectangular holes through which the sap is soon flowing. The
inner bark is eaten as removed and the sap is eagerly drunk. It is said
also that in some cases the bird relies upon this sugar-bush to attract
insects which it likes, and thus makes its little wells do triple
service. According to Professor Butler, an observer in Indiana, Mrs. J.
L. Hine, once watched a Sapsucker in early spring for seven hours at a
stretch, and during this time the bird did not move above a yard from a
certain maple tap from which it drank at intervals.
Orchard trees suffer occasionally from this bird’s depredations, but the
sap of pine or fir trees is its favorite diet and available the year
around.
In nesting the Red-naped Sapsucker shows a marked preference for aspen
trees and its summer range is practically confined to their vicinity. A
nest found on the banks of the Pend d’Oreille, opposite Ione, was placed
twenty-five feet up in an aspen tree some sixteen inches in diameter.
The tree was dead at the heart but there was an outer shell of live wood
two inches in thickness. The bird had penetrated this outer shell with a
tunnel as round as an augur-hole, and an inch and a half in diameter,
and had excavated in the soft heart-wood a chamber ten inches deep
vertically, five and a half horizontally, and three from front to back.
Here five eggs, “as fresh as paint,” reposed on the rotten chips. Like
all, or most, Woodpecker eggs, these were beautifully transparent, with
the position of the contained yolk clearly indicated. One egg was broken
with a small round hole, as tho a careless claw had been stuck into it.
The parent birds, especially the male, who was caught on the eggs as tho
inspecting the latest achievement, were very attentive, flying back and
forth in neighboring trees, and giving utterance to the _keé ah_ and
other notes. After my descent from the ruined home, the male alighted
beside the hole and tapped at the edges, as tho seeking in the sound of
the wood explanation of the disaster.
No. 172.
RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKER.
A. O. U. No. 403. Sphyrapicus ruber (Gmel.).
Synonym.—Red-breasted Woodpecker.
Description.—_Adult male_: Somewhat as in preceding but distinctive
markings of head and neck and chest nearly obliterated by
all-prevailing carmine which reaches well down on breast; marks
alluded to most persistent in anterior portion of transverse (white)
cheek-stripe and in black of lores; breast (posterior to carmine) and
remaining underparts strongly suffused with yellow; white spotting of
upperparts greatly reduced in area and oftenest tinged with yellow;
white wing-bar fully persistent but often yellow-tinged—thus an
evolved form of _S. v. nuchalis_, with which males are said to exhibit
every degree of gradation. _Adult_ _female_: like male but duller.
_Young birds_ are said to be “gray with dull reddish suffusion as if
the head had been dipped in claret wine.” Length, etc., as in
preceding.
Recognition Marks.—Chewink size; bright crimson of head, “shoulders”
and fore-breast distinctive; yellow underparts. Brighter than
succeeding.
Nesting.—_Nest_ and _Eggs_ as in _S. r. notkensis_.
General Range.—Northern Lower California, the Pacific Coast States and
British Columbia, save in northwestern portion where displaced by
succeeding form; retires from northern portion of range in winter.
Range in Washington.—Summer resident and migrant chiefly along the
eastern slopes of the Cascades, shading into succeeding form west of
the divide.
Authorities.—[Lewis and Clark, Hist. Ex. (1814) Ed. Biddle: Coues,
Vol. II. p. 185.] Bendire, Auk, Vol. V. July, 1888, p. 230. T. D¹.
Specimens.—U. of W.
It is all very well for the economic ornithologist to tell us that
Sapsuckers are somewhat injurious to orchard trees, but the sight of one
of these splendid creatures, dropping with a low cry to the base of a
tree and hitching coquettishly up its length, is enough to disarm all
resentment. From what spilled chalice of old Burgundy has the bird been
sipping? Or from what baptism of blood has he lately escaped that he
should be dyed red for half his length? Recrudescent mythology, ill at
ease in these commercial times, nevertheless casts furtive glances at
him, and longs to account in its inimitable way for the telltale color.
For myself, if young fruit trees will lure such beauty from the woods, I
will turn orchardist. Nor will I begrudge the early sap from my choicest
pippins. I am fond of cider myself, but there are worthier. Drink,
pretty creature, drink!
Well, of course, there are biographical details; but what of it? Have
you not yourself been so smitten with beauty that you forgot to inquire
pedigree? Tut, now; you do not even remember a single sentence she said
that day. But you remember her. Enough!
Once when the bird-man was camping on the Snoqualmie trail, this crimson
vision appeared at the edge of a clearing, and proceeded to inspect our
plant approvingly; and while the bird-man’s heart was in his mouth, it
lit on the tent-post and gave it two or three inquiring raps. What need
of details!
[Illustration: RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKER
MALE, NEARLY LIFE SIZE
From a Water-color Painting by Allan Brooks]
No. 173.
NORTHWEST SAPSUCKER.
A. O. U. No. 403 a. Sphyrapicus ruber notkensis Suckow.
Synonyms.—Northern Red-breasted Sapsucker. Crimson-headed Woodpecker.
Description.—Like preceding but darker, red a deep crimson or maroon
purple. Original markings of _S. varius nuchalis_ still further
effaced. Av. measurements of two adults from Glacier: Length, 9.94
(252.5); wing 5.24 (133.1); tail 3.40 (86.4); bill 1.03 (26.2).
Recognition Marks.—Chewink size; dark crimson of head, neck, and
breast distinctive.
Nesting.—_Nest_: An unlined cavity excavated in dead fir or living
deciduous tree, usually at considerable height. _Eggs_: 5-7, white.
Av. size, .92 × .69 (23.4 × 17.5). _Season_: May or June; one brood.
General Range.—Breeding in Northwest coast district of North America
from Oregon to Sitka, Alaska; south in winter to southern California.
Range in Washington.—Summer resident west of the Cascades; also
partially resident in winter.
Authorities.—_Sphyrapicus ruber_ Baird, Baird, Rep. Pac. R. R. Surv.
IX. 1858, pp. 104, 105. C&S. Rh. Ra. B. E.
Specimens.—P. Prov. B. E.
Victor Savings, of Blaine, pointed out a hole fifty feet up in a big fir
stub as the Sapsucker’s nest. Soon the female flew to the entrance;
whereupon the male bird emerged, gorgeous in crimson panoply, and flew
away, the female taking his place on the eggs. After a bit Victor
pounded on the tree to raise a possible Harris further up, for the tree
above is riddled with nesting holes. The female Sapsucker promptly
thrust out her head and studied the situation for five minutes or so,
after which she dropped back content. The only notable thing about the
nest externally was a round smooth patch, the size of a dollar, upon the
tree about four inches below the nest, worn and polished by the
tail-feathers of the alighting birds. Judged by this mark of
identification, only one of the unused holes above belonged to the
Sapsucker; the remainder to the Harris Woodpecker.
The stub commands a view of the Savings’s orchard, where, Victor says,
the Sapsuckers do immense damage, especially to the pear trees. This
nesting tree was sixteen feet around at the base, above the root bulge,
and perfectly desolate of limbs. Fortunately, also, it had long since
disposed of its shaggy coat of bark,—fortunately, I say, for when a fir
stub sheds its fir coat it does so suddenly, and great is the fall
thereof.
It was a far cry up that barren shaft with one knew not what
possibilities of defeat at the end of it; but, of course, if one wanted
eggs, one had to go after them. First, we laid out a liberal supply of
stout two-foot fir cleats, and a couple of pounds of small spikes. A
ladder gave us a twenty-foot start, after which I nailed up the cleats
with the aid of a three-quarter-inch rope passed round the tree and my
body. My companion at the bottom of the tree supplied building materials
which I hoisted from time to time by means of another rope.
In this laborious fashion the nest was reached. The birds, meanwhile,
having become increasingly anxious, made frequent approaches from a
neighboring tree, crying, _kee-a, kee-aa_, in helpless bewilderment.
Several times they lighted near the scene of operations, but were
frightened off by the resounding blows of the hand-axe. When all was
over, they raised a high, strong _qué-oo,—qué-oo_, never before heard,
and reminding one generically of the Red-headed Woodpecker of boyhood
days.
[Illustration: _Taken near Blaine._ _Photo by Victor Savings._
NESTING SITE OF THE NORTHWEST SAPSUCKER.]
By the time I had a hole large enough to thrust in the hand, the eggs
were quite buried in chips and rotten wood. But when they were
uncovered, they were seen to lie, seven of them, in two regular lines,
four in the front rank with sides touching evenly, and three in the rear
with points dove-tailed between. There was, of course, no lining for the
nest, save the rotten wood itself. The eggs were perfectly fresh and had
a warm pink tint before the contents were removed. Their surface is
highly polished, and their texture varied, giving an effect as of
water-marked linen paper, in heavy branching lines and coarse frost-work
patterns.
No. 174.
WILLIAMSON’S SAPSUCKER.
A. O. U. No. 404. Sphyrapicus thyroideus (Cass.).
Synonyms.—Williamson’s Woodpecker. Red-throated Woodpecker (male).
Brown-headed Woodpecker (female). Black-breasted Woodpecker (female).
Description.—_Adult male_: In general glossy black including wings and
tail; throat, narrowly, scarlet; belly gamboge yellow; sides, flanks,
lining of wings and under tail-coverts more or less mingled with
white,—black-and-white barred, or marked with black on white ground; a
broad oblique bar on wing-coverts and small more or less paired spots
on wing-quills and upper tail-coverts, white; a white post-ocular
stripe and a transverse stripe from extreme forehead passing below eye
to side of neck. Bill slaty; feet greenish gray with black nails; iris
dark brown. _Adult female_: Very different; in general, closely barred
black-and-white, or black-and-brownish; breast only pure black, in
variable extent; whole head nearly uniform hair-brown, but showing
traces of irrupting black; post-ocular stripe of male faintly
indicated and occasionally with touch of red on throat; some
intermediate rectrices black but exposed surfaces of central and outer
tail-feathers black-and-white barred; white spots of wing-quills
larger, paired, and changing to bars on inner quills. _Young male_:
Like adult male, but black not glossy; belly paler; throat white.
_Young female_: Like adult female but barring carried across head,
neck, throat, and breast. Length of adult: 9.00-9.75 (228.6-247.6);
wing 5.25 (133.3); tail 3.80 (96.5); bill .90-1.15 (22.9-29.2).
Recognition Marks.—Small Robin size; fine barring of female
distinctive; extensive black of male with white head-stripes, white
rump (upper tail-coverts) and white wing-bar; pattern of underparts
(in male) clearly a modification of that of _S. v. nuchalis_, but red
of throat much reduced, and black much extended.
Nesting.—_Nest_: A hole excavated by birds at any height in live
deciduous tree or dead conifer. _Eggs_: 3-7, usually 4, white. Av.
size, .96 × .67 (24.4 × 17). _Season_: May-June; one brood.
General Range.—Western United States chiefly in mountains and
foothills from eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains to western slopes
of Sierra-Cascades, breeding from mountains of Arizona and New Mexico
north to British Columbia (in the valley of the Okanagan); south in
winter to Southwestern States and Mexico.
Range in Washington.—Summer resident chiefly on eastern slopes of the
Cascades.
Authorities.—Bendire, Life Hist. N. A. Birds, Vol. II. 1895, p. 97.
D².
Specimens.—C.
Over and beyond the interest of _life_, which is always the greatest
charm of an animal, be it bird or snail, a curious interest attaches to
many creatures thru some accident of discovery, some misapprehension, or
neglect, or absurd surprise,—the historical interest, humanly
considered. Now the amusing thing about Williamson Sapsuckers, male and
female, is that ages after God had joined them together man snatched
them rudely asunder, thrusting Mr. Williamson into one pigeon-hole,
labeled _williamsonii_, and Mrs. Williamson—under a vernacular alias of
Brown-headed Woodpecker—since she was indiscreet enough to flit out
alone one day, into another, labeled _Picus thyroideus_. This legal
crime, which was committed in the probate court of ornithological
inexperience in 1853 and 1857, was not corrected until 1873, when Mr.
Henshaw caught a pair of these really very dissimilar birds innocently
conspiring to set the decree of a blundering divorce court at naught.
Of the occurrence of this species in Washington, there is little to be
said. There is a record for British Columbia, Similikameen, June, 1882,
by R. V. Griffin, whence Bendire evidently assumes its presence along
the eastern slope of the Cascade Mountains in Washington. I am aware of
only one published instance[73], recording a female narrowly observed by
myself at the Yakima Soda Springs, on August 9, 1899. Besides that we
have obtained momentary glimpses of others in the Stehekin Valley in
three successive seasons, 1906-1908.
Bendire notes that these Sapsuckers are like the other species in habit,
except that they are not at all confined to deciduous trees, and that
they are found (in Oregon, California, and Colorado) at the higher
levels, from 5000 feet up. So far, we have found them in Washington only
at altitudes of 1000 to 1500 feet.
No. 175.
NORTHERN PILEATED WOODPECKER.
A. O. U. No. 405 a. Phlœotomus pileatus abieticola (Bangs).
Synonyms.—Logcock. Cock-of-the-Woods. Black Woodcock.
Description.—_Adult male_: General plumage sooty black, lusterless
save on wings and back; whole top of head and lengthened crest bright
red; red malar stripes changing to black behind, and separating white
spaces; chin and upper throat white; also a white stripe extending
from nostrils and below eye to nape, and produced downward and
backward to shoulder; narrow white stripe over and behind eye; lining
and edge of wing, and a large spot (nearly concealed) at base of
primaries, white; black feathers of sides sparingly white-tipped; bill
dark plumbeous above, lighter below, save at tip; feet black. In some
specimens the whites are everywhere tinged with pale sulphur-yellow,
the color being especially noticeable in the axillaries and lining of
wings. _Adult female_: Similar, but black on forehead, and black
instead of red malar stripes. Length 15.50-19.00 (393.7-482.6); wing
8.50-10.00 (215.9-254); tail 5.85-7.40 (148.6-188); head 4.50-5.50
(114.3-139.7); bill 1.75-2.65 (44.5-67.3).
Recognition Marks.—Largest size; black, white and red on head in
stripes; body mainly black.
Nesting.—_Nest_: high in dead trees. _Eggs_: 4-6, white. Av. size,
1.29 × .94 (32.8 × 23.9). _Season_: May; one brood.
General Range.—Formerly the heavily wooded regions of North America
south of about latitude 63°, except in the southern Rocky Mountains.
Now rare or extirpated in the more settled parts of the Eastern
States.
Range in Washington.—Not uncommon resident in larger coniferous
forests thruout the State.
Authorities.—[Lewis and Clark, Hist. Ex. (1814) Ed. Biddle: Coues,
Vol. II. p. 185.] _Hylatomus pileatus_ Baird, Baird, Rep. Pac. R. R.
Surv. IX. 1858, p. 107. T. C&S. L². Rh. D¹. Ra. Kk. B. E.
Specimens.—U. of W. P. Prov. B. BN.
One’s first acquaintance with this huge black fowl marks a red-letter
day in woodcraft, and it is permitted the serious student to examine the
bird anatomically just once in a life-time. The scarlet crest attracts
first attention, not only because of its brilliancy, but because its
presence counterbalances the bill, and imparts to the head its
hammer-like aspect. This crest was much sought after by the Indians of
our coast, and figured prominently as a personal decoration in their
medicine dances, as did the bird itself in their medicine lore. A
measurement of twenty-eight inches from wing-tip to wing-tip marks the
size of this “Black Woodcock,” while the stiffened tail-feathers with
their down-turned vanes show what adequate support is given the clinging
claws when the bird delivers one of its powerful strokes. The bill is
the marvel. Made apparently of horn, like other birds’ bills, it has
some of the attributes of tempered steel. The bird uses it recklessly as
both axe and crowbar, for it hews its way thru the bark of our largest
dead fir trees, in its efforts to get at the grubs, which have their
greatest field of activity between the bark and the wood. It pries off
great chips and flakes by a sidewise wrench of its head. A carpenter is
known by his chips, but no carpenter would put his chisels to such hard
service as the bird does his. As a result there is no mistaking the bark
pile which surrounds the base of certain old stubs in the forest for the
work of any other agency.
Possibly the most interesting of all is the Log-cock’s tongue, which it
is able to protrude suddenly to a distance of four or five inches beyond
the tip of its beak. This provision enables the bird to economize labor
in the tracking of buried sweets, and the arrangement is made possible
by the great development of the hyoid bones with their muscular
attachments. These extend backward from the base of the tongue over and
around the skull, nearly to the upper base of the bird’s bill again.
The great forest fires which have ravaged our State have proved a
god-send to the Woodpeckers, altho they are in no way responsible for
them. The Pileated Woodpecker does his share in staying the ravages of
the wood-working insects, but he is even more interested in the
spoliation of fallen logs and so hastens rather than retards decay. A
pair of these Woodpeckers will gradually tear a rotten log to pieces in
pursuit of the grubs and wood-boring ants which it harbors. They are shy
or confiding just in proportion to the amount of persecution which they
have been called upon to endure. I have waited half a day trying to get
a specimen, and again I have sat under a shower of chips or ogled a busy
pair in the open at forty feet.
The Log-cock has a variety of notes, and one who learns them will find
the bird much more common than he may have supposed. The most noteworthy
of these is a high-pitched stentorian call, which is not exactly
laughter, altho something like it in form, _hü ha ha ha ha ha ha ha hü_.
“At a distance this call sounds metallic; but when at close range it is
sent echoing thru the forest, it is full and clear, and it is the most
untamably wild sound among bird notes.”
[Illustration: _Taken in Pierce County._ _Photo by J. H. Bowles._
PILEATED WOODPECKER LEAVING NEST.]
In this connection wish to mention a mysterious sound which I have
several times heard in the depths of the western forest, but to whose
authorship I have no clew unless it proceeds from this bird. The note
comes from well up in the trees, and is repeated slowly, after little
intervals, and with a sort of funereal solemnity. If I venture to
literate it, the letters are to be thought rather than said,—or better
still, thought while whistled in a low key _(si) poolk(ng) - - -
(si)poolk(ng) - - (si)poolk(ng)_. Who will “riddle me this mystery”?
The Pileated Woodpecker chisels out its nesting hole at any height in
dead timber, whether of fir, pine, spruce, or other. It nests regularly
in this State, but the taking of its eggs is something of a feat; so, in
default of much-coveted “luck,” we fall back on Bendire[74]: “From three
to five eggs are usually laid to a set, but I have seen it stated that
the Pileated Woodpecker often laid six, and that a nest found near
Farmville, Virginia, contained eight. An egg is deposited daily, and
incubation begins occasionally before the set is completed, and lasts
about eighteen days, both sexes assisting in the duty, as well as in
caring for the young. Like all Woodpeckers the Pileated are very devoted
parents, and the young follow them for some weeks after leaving the
nest, until fully capable of caring for themselves. Only one brood is
raised in a season. The eggs of the Pileated Woodpecker are pure
china-white in color, mostly ovate in shape; the shell is exceedingly
fine-grained and very glossy, as if enameled.”
No. 176.
LEWIS’S WOODPECKER.
A. O. U. No. 408. Asyndesmus lewisi Riley.
Synonym.—Black Woodpecker.
Description.—_Adults_: Above shining black with a greenish bronzy
luster; “face,” including extreme forehead, space about eye, cheeks,
and chin, rich crimson; a collar around neck continuous with breast
hoary ash; this ashy mingled intimately with carmine, or carmine-lake,
on remaining underparts, save flanks, thighs and crissum, which are
black; feathers of nape and underparts black and compact at base but
finely dissected on colored portion of tips, each barb lengthened and
bristly in character. Bill and feet black; iris brown. _Young birds_
lack the crimson mask and hoary collar; the underparts are gray
mingled with dusky below, with skirtings of red in increasing
abundance according to age. Length of adult: 10.00-11.00 (254-279.4);
wing 6.75 (171.5); tail 4.50 (114.3); bill 1.20 (30.5).
Recognition Marks.—Robin size; shining black above, hoary collar and
breast; red mingled with hoary ash on underparts distinctive.
Nesting.—_Nest_: in hole excavated in dead tree, usually at
considerable height. _Eggs_: 5-9, white, slightly glossed. Av. size,
1.03 × .80 (26.2 × 20.3). _Season_: third week in May to first week in
June; one brood.
General Range.—Western United States from the Black Hills and the
Rocky Mountains to the Pacific, and from southern British Columbia to
southern Alberta, south to Arizona, and (in winter) western Texas.
Casual in Kansas (A. O. U.).
Range in Washington.—Summer resident in timbered sections (Arid
Transition and lower Canadian life-zones) east of the Cascades;
especially partial to cottonwood timber lining the larger streams;
locally distributed or colonizing west of the mountains, chiefly in
burns.
Authorities.—[Lewis and Clark, Hist. Ex. (1814), Ed. Biddle; Coues,
Vol. II., p. 187]. _Melanerpes torquatus_, Bonap. Baird, Rep. Pac. R.
R. Surv. IX., 1858, p. 116. T. C&S. L². D¹. Kb. Ra. D². Ss¹. Ss². Kk.
J. B. E.
Specimens.—U. of W. P. Prov. C. E.
Not the least strange of the many new creatures discovered by a famous
expedition of a hundred years ago was this curious black Woodpecker,
which Wilson named _torquatus_ (collared), but which soon became known
by the name of the intrepid leader, Captain Meriwether Lewis. In habit
and appearance the bird combines Crow, Jay, Woodpecker, Flicker, and
Flycatcher. It is perhaps as flycatcher that we know him best, as we see
him sail out from the summit of a cottonwood or towering pine-tree and
make connection with some object to us invisible. If the insects are
flying freely, the bird may conclude to remain aloft for a few minutes,
fluttering about in great watchful circles, ready for momentary dashes
and adroit seizures. A dozen of his fellows may be similarly engaged in
the same vicinity, for Lewis is ever a sociable bird, and when he
returns to his perch he will raise a curious raucous twitter, a rasping,
grating, obstructed sound, which is his best effort at either
conversation or song.
In passing from tree to tree the Woodpecker presents a Crow-like
appearance, for it moves with a labored, direct flight, which is quite
different from the bounding gait so characteristic of many of its real
kinfolk. In alighting, also, the bird is as likely to bring up on top of
a limb, in respectable bird-fashion, as to try clinging to the tree
trunk.
Lewis Woodpeckers are rather wary, and if one starts out to secure a
specimen, he is surprised to note how the birds manage to edge off while
still out of range, and to fly away across the tree-tops rather than
trust themselves to the lower levels. It is well worth one’s while to
examine a specimen, because of the exceptional character of the bird’s
plumage. The hoary ash of the collar contrasts strikingly with the
glossy green of the upperparts, while the rich crimson, mingled with
ashy, below, serves to emphasize the extraordinary hair-like character
of the feathers themselves. If it had been a Sapsucker, now, or a
Harris, we could readily understand how the abdominal plumage might have
been teased to rags thru constant friction with rough bark; but this
lazy Jack-of-all-trades, who is more flycatcher than true woodpecker,
how did he get his under-plumage so fearfully mussed?
For all the Black Woodpecker keeps largely to the tops of trees, it is
not averse to ground-meats, and where unmolested, will descend to feed
with Cousin Flicker upon crickets, geotic beetles, or fallen acorns.
Grasshoppers are a favorite food, and during the season of their
greatest abundance the bird requires little else. Service-berries are a
staple in season, wild strawberries are not often neglected, and the
bird has been known to filch a cherry now and then. Indeed, it is
noteworthy that in certain fruit-growing sections, such as the Yakima
Valley, Black Woodpeckers have increased in numbers of late. It must not
be hastily concluded on this account that the Woodpecker is a menace to
the orchard. He earns what he eats. Orchards attract insects, and
insects attract birds. Which will you have, no birds, more insects, and
so, eventually, no fruit? or more birds, fewer insects, and enough fruit
for all?
[Illustration: LEWIS WOODPECKER.]
The occurrence of the Black Woodpecker west of the Cascades is subject
to little-understood fluctuations. One year the birds will abound in a
certain section, while the year following none are seen. Whether this is
because the local food supply has become exhausted with a season’s
foraging, or whether the birds are simply whimsical in choice, we do not
know. Doubtless, in any event, the rapid opening up of new territory,
thru the cutting and partial burning of timber, has provided a field of
opportunity too large for the species to fully occupy. With such wealth
before them the early colonists may naturally have become a little
saucy.
[Illustration: _Taken in Whatcom County._ _Photo by the Author._
AN OLD BURN SUCH AS LEWIS WOODPECKERS DELIGHT IN.]
No. 177.
YELLOW-SHAFTED FLICKER.
A. O. U. No. 412a. _Colaptes auratus luteus_ Bangs.
Synonyms.—Flicker. Northern Flicker. Golden-winged Woodpecker.
Yellow-hammer. High-hole. High-holder. Pigeon Woodpecker. Wake-up.
Description.—_Adult male_: Top of head and cervix ashy gray, with a
vinaceous tinge on forehead; a bright scarlet band on the back of the
neck; back, scapulars, and wings vinaceous gray with conspicuous black
bars, brace-shaped, crescentic or various; primaries plain dusky on
exposed webs; lining of the wing and shafts of the wing-quills yellow;
rump broadly white; upper tail-coverts white, black-barred in broad,
“herring-bone” pattern; tail double-pointed, black, and with black
shafts on exposed upper surface; feathers sharply acuminate; tail
below, golden-yellow and with yellow shafts, save on black tips; chin,
sides of head, and throat vinaceous, enclosing two broad, black, malar
stripes, or moustaches; a broad, black, pectoral crescent; remaining
underparts white with heavy vinaceous shading on breast and sides,
everywhere marked with sharply defined and handsome round, or cordate,
spots of black. Bill and feet dark plumbeous. _Adult female_: Similar,
but without black moustache. Sexes about equal in size. Length
12.00-12.75 (304.8-323.9); av. of thirteen specimens: wing 6.13
(155.7); tail 4.34 (110.2); bill 1.34 (34).
Recognition Marks.—Size not comparable to that of any better known
bird; scarlet nuchal band; _yellow_ “flickerings” in flight; pectoral
crescent; white rump; black-spotted breast, etc.
Nesting.—Does not breed in Washington. _Nest_: an excavation in a tree
or stump, usually made by the bird, at moderate heights; unlined, save
by chips. _Eggs_: 4-10, usually 7 or 8, glossy white. Av. size, 1.09 ×
.85 (27.7 × 21.6).
General Range.—Northern and eastern North America, west to the eastern
slope of the Rocky Mountains and Alaska. Occasional on the Pacific
slope from California northward. Accidental in Europe.
Range in Washington.—Casual during migrations—a straggler from Alaska.
Authorities.—Dawson, Auk, Vol. XXV., Oct. 1908, p. 484.
Specimens.—Prov. E.
The true Yellow-shafted Flicker, the familiar bird of the Eastern
States, is occasionally taken as a straggler during the fall migrations.
Mr. D. E. Brown took a typical specimen at Glacier, in 1904, and Mr.
Victor Savings, of Blaine, has shot one and seen several others. A
specimen in Mr. Rathbun’s collection was taken by Mr. Matt. H. Gormley,
on Orcas Island, October 15, 1903. The bird is a male and is typical
save for the faintest possible tinge of salmon in the yellow, which
marks him as a border-line specimen, probably a British Columbian bird
which did not deflect eastward sufficiently in the autumn retreat.
According to Nelson, this bird is abundantly distributed thruout the
timbered portions of Alaska, west even to the neighborhood of Bering
Straits, and it is only surprising that so few of them come straight
south to winter.
Upon the eastern borders of the range of _C. cafer_, viz., upon the
eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains in British Columbia, Idaho,
Montana, and southward, specimens showing mixed characters of _cafer_
and _auratus_ are found—in such numbers, indeed, that they were formerly
given a distinctive name, _Colaptes hybridus_ Baird. This half-breed
stock is perhaps the most interesting example of hybridization in
American ornithology, presenting, as it does, not the familiar
border-line of types being differentiated by varying environment, but
the re-amalgamation of related types, differentiated ages ago from a
common stock, presumably in Mexico.
No. 178.
RED-SHAFTED FLICKER.
A. O. U. No. 413. Colaptes mexicanus collaris (Vigors).
Synonyms.—Red-winged Woodpecker. High-holder. “Yellow-hammer.” Pigeon
Woodpecker.
Description.—_Adult male_: Similar to _C. auratus luteus_, but yellow
of feather-shafts, etc., replaced by orange-vermillion; cast of upper
plumage correspondingly reddish (very faintly, a mere vinaceous tinge
to the brown); no scarlet nuchal patch; a broad malar stripe of
scarlet (replacing the black stripe of _C. a. luteus_); sides of head
and throat clear bluish ash; underparts tinged with lilaceous. _Adult
female_: Like male but scarlet malar stripe replaced by brown. Between
this and _Colaptes auratus luteus_ every form of gradation exists.
Hybrids (for such they really are) most frequently reveal themselves
by the presence of three scarlet patches (in the male), i. e., two
malar and one nuchal. Length: averaging larger than _C. a. luteus_, up
to 14.00 (355.6); wing 6.90 (175.3); tail 5.00 (127); bill 1.50
(38.1).
Recognition Marks.—Little Hawk size; brown finely barred with black
above; underparts heavily spotted with black; flame-color of under
wing surface prominent in flight; scarlet malar stripe of male
distinctive; lighter than succeeding.
Nesting.—Much as in _C. a. luteus_, and eggs indistinguishable. For
nesting sites makes use of wooden buildings or earth-banks in default
of trees. _Season_: May; one brood, rarely two.
General Range.—Western United States and British Columbia from the
Rocky Mountains to the Pacific and south into northern Mexico, giving
place to succeeding form on northwest coast slopes, to C. chrysoides
in extreme southwest, and hybridizing with _C. auratus luteus_ in
northeastern and northern portion of range.
Range in Washington.—East-side, common summer resident and migrant,
found to timber-line in the Cascades, where shading into next;
partially resident in winter.
Authorities.—[Lewis and Clark, Hist. Ex. (1814) Ed. Biddle: Coues,
Vol. II., p. 185]? _C. cafer_, Allen, B. N. O. C. VI. (1881), p. 128.
(T). L¹.(?) D¹. Sr. D². Ss¹. Ss². J. B.
Specimens.—(U. of W.) P¹. Prov. B. BN.
Nature has not dealt justly with the East-side Flicker in the matter of
providing an abundance of dead timber for nesting sites. What more
natural, then, than that the stinted bird should joyfully fall upon the
first “frame” houses and riddle them with holes? The front door of a
certain country parsonage near North Yakima testifies to at least one
pastoral vacation, by the presence of three large Flicker holes in its
panels. The church hard by is dotted with tin patches which conceal this
bird’s handiwork; and the mind recalls with glee how the irreverent
Flicker on a summer Sunday replied to the parson’s fifthly, by a mighty
_rat-at-at-at-at_ on the weather siding. The district schoolhouse of a
neighboring township is worst served of all, for forty-one Flicker holes
punctuate its weather-beaten sides—reason enough, surely, for teaching
the young idea of that district how to shoot. Indeed, the school
directors became so incensed at the conduct of these naughty fowls that
they offered a bounty of ten cents a head for their destruction. But it
is to laugh to see the fierce energy with which these birds of the
plains, long deprived of legitimate exercise, fall to and perforate such
neglected outposts of learning. The bird becomes obsessed by the idea of
filling a particular wall full of holes, and no ingenuity of man can
deter him. If work during union hours is discouraged, the bird returns
stealthily to his task at four a. m., and chisels out a masterpiece
before breakfast. If the gun speaks, and one bird falls a martyr to the
sacred cause, another comes forward promptly to take his place, and
there is always some patriotic Flicker to uphold the rights of academic
research.
Of course the situation is much relieved in the timbered foothills and
along the wooded banks of streams, where rotten stubs abound. The
Flicker is at home, also, to the very limit of trees in the Cascade
Mountains. Nests are ordinarily excavated late in April, and any tree or
stump may serve as host. In Okanogan County I saw a Flicker’s nest in a
stump only two feet high, and its eggs rested virtually upon the ground.
Others occur in live willows, cottonwoods, and apple trees, as well as
in dead pines—the last named occasionally at a height of sixty or
seventy feet. They nest also in the walls of buildings, in which case
they lug in the chips to lay on beam or sill, and so prevent the eggs
from rolling. In Chelan County a nest was found in a bank of fine earth
among those of a colony of Bank Swallows. True to tradition the birds
had gone downward after entering this bank. Excavation proved to be such
a pleasant task that they had dug a hole not only eighteen inches deep
but two feet long and one wide, measured horizontally. Three cubic feet
of earth these industrious birds had removed, not after the familiar
pick and kick fashion of most bank delving species, but by the beakful,
as Woodpeckers should.
From six to ten highly polished, semi-transparent, white eggs are laid
upon the rotten wood or chips, which usually line a nest; and incubation
begins customarily when the last egg is laid. Bendire notes an instance,
in the Blue Mountains of Oregon, of a Flicker’s nest which contained at
one time three young birds just hatched, two pipped eggs, and five
perfectly fresh eggs, of which one was a runt.
[Illustration: _Taken in Oregon._ _Photo by A. W. Anthony._
NEST AND EGGS OF RED-SHAFTED FLICKER.]
The female is a close sitter and instances are on record where pebbles
dropped in upon her have failed to dislodge her, or where once being
lifted off she brushed passed the disturber to re-enter the nest. Altho
provided with a bill which might prove a formidable weapon, the Flicker
is of too gentle a nature to wield it in combat, and seldom offers any
resistance whatever to the intruder.
After fourteen days young birds are hatched, blind, ugly, helpless. In a
few days more, however, they are able to cling to the sides of the
nesting hollow, and are ready to set up a clamor upon the appearance of
food. This noise has been compared to the hissing of a nest of snakes,
but as the fledglings grow it becomes an uproar equal to the best
efforts of a telephone pole on a frosty morning.
The young are fed entirely by regurgitation, not an attractive process,
but one admirably suited to the necessities of long foraging expeditions
and varying fare. When able to leave the nest the fledglings usually
clamber about the parental roof-tree for a day or two before taking
flight. Their first efforts at obtaining food for themselves are usually
made upon the ground, where ants are abundant. These with grasshoppers
and other ground-haunting insects make up a large percentage of food,
both of the young and adults. It will appear from this that the
Red-shafted Flicker is not only harmless but decidedly beneficial—save
in the matter of hostility to school boards, above mentioned.
No. 179.
NORTHWESTERN FLICKER.
A. O. U. No. 413 a. Colaptes mexicanus saturatior Ridgway.
Description.—Like _C. m. collaris_ but darker; ground color of
upperparts burnt umber with a purplish tinge; ground color of
underparts vinaceous buff to color of back; sides of head and throat
deep smoke-gray; pileum cinnamomeous. Specimens in the Provincial
Museum at Victoria indicate hybridization between this form and _C.
auratus luteus_. Of twenty-seven males from Vancouver Island nine
possess in whole or in part the scarlet nuchal patch characteristic of
_auratus_. Length up to 14.00 (355.6); av. of five Glacier specimens:
wing 6.55 (166.4): tail 5.13 (130.3); bill 1.55 (39.4).
Recognition Marks.—As in preceding; darker.
Nesting.—_Nest_: much as in preceding, but usually higher up. _Eggs_:
usually 6, somewhat less glossy than those of _C. m. collaris_.
General Range.—Northwest coast from northern California to Sitka,
hybridizing with _C. a. luteus_ northerly.
Range in Washington.—Common resident west of Cascades, breeding from
tide-water to timber-line, migrating irregularly to East-side in
winter; probably some substitution of northern birds for local summer
residents on Puget Sound in winter.
Authorities.—? _Picus mexicanus_, Audubon, Orn. Biog. V., 1839, 174,
pl. 416. _Colaptes mexicanus_ Swains, Baird, Rep. Pac. R. R. Surv.
IX., 1858, pp. 120, 121. C&S. Rh. Kb. Ra. Kk. B. E.
Specimens.—U. of W. P. Prov. B. BN. E.
Thoughtless people often call the Flickers of Washington
“Yellow-hammers,” quite regardless of the fact that the western Flicker
is no longer yellow, but orange-red. Such an oversight is unpardonable,
but it would require a nice eye to distinguish out of hand this really
deeply-tinted bird from its lighter brother, the Red-shafted, across the
Cascades. The Cascade Mountains mark the ground of intergradation
between _mexicanus_ and _saturatior_, and it would seem probable that
specimens taken in winter in eastern Washington and dubbed _saturatior_,
are really birds which summer on the eastern slopes of the Cascades, and
which approach the saturated type of plumage, rather than migrants from
_across_ the mountains, as has been assumed. These are mere subtleties.
It is more important to note that birds of the _mexicanus_ type do not
appear to differ in song or in psychology from the familiar _Colaptes
auratus_ of the East. I therefore transcribe three paragraphs from “The
Birds of Ohio” without apology, only substituting _flame_ (i. e.,
orange-red) for “cloth of gold.”
[Illustration: _Taken near Victoria._ _Photo by the Author._
THE OAK TREES OF CEDAR HILL.
A NESTING HAUNT OF THE NORTHWESTERN FLICKER.]
It is perhaps as a musician that the Flicker is best known. The word
musician is used in an accommodated sense, for the bird is no
professional singer, or instrumental maestro; but so long as the great
orchestra of Nature is rendering the oratorio of life, there will be
place for the drummer, the screamer, and the utterer of strange sounds,
as well as for the human obligato. The Flicker is first, like all other
Woodpeckers, a drummer. The long rolling tattoo of early springtime is
elicited from some dry limb or board where the greatest resonance may be
secured, and it is intended both as a musical performance and as a call
of inquiry. Once, as a student, the writer roomed in a large building,
whose unused chimneys were covered with sheet-iron. A Flicker had
learned the acoustic value of these elevated drums, and the sound of
this bird’s reveille at 4:00 a. m. was a regular feature of life at
“Council Hall.”
The most characteristic of the bird’s vocal efforts is a piercing call
delivered from an elevated situation, _clape_ or _kly-ak_, and _cheer_
or _kee-yer_. The scythe-whetting song is used for greeting, coaxing or
argumentation, and runs from a low _wee-co, wee-co_—thru _wake-up,
wake-up, wake-up_—to an emphatic _wy-kle, wy-kle, wy-kle_, or, in
another mood sounds like _flicker, flicker, flicker_.
[Illustration: _Taken in Rainier National Park._ _Photo by W. Leon
Dawson._
A NESTING SITE OF THE NORTHWEST FLICKER.
THE LARGEST STUB CONTAINED SIX EGGS ON THE POINT OF HATCHING JULY 7,
1908, WHEN THIS PICTURE WAS TAKEN.]
In the early days of April courtship is in progress, and the love-making
of the Flicker is both the most curious and the most conspicuous of
anything in that order. An infatuated Flicker is a very soft and
foolish-looking bird, but it must be admitted that he thoroly
understands the feminine heart and succeeds in love beyond the luck of
most. A bevy of suitors will lay siege to the affections of a fair lady,
say in the top of a sycamore tree. Altho the rivalry is fierce, one
gallant at a time will be allowed to display his charms. This he does by
advancing toward the female along a horizontal limb, bowing, scraping,
pirouetting, and swaying his head from side to side with a rythmical
motion. Now and then the swain pretends to lose his balance, being quite
blinded, you see, by the luster of milady’s eyes, but in reality he does
it that he may have an excuse to throw up his wings and display the
dazzling flame which lines them. The lady is disposed to be critical at
first, and backs away in apparent indifference or flies off to another
limb in the same tree. This is only a fair test of gallantry and
provokes pursuit, as was expected. Hour after hour, and it may be day
after day, the suit is pressed by one and another until the maiden
indicates her preference, and begins to respond in kind by nodding and
bowing and swaying before the object of her choice, and to pour out an
answering flood of softly whispered adulation. The best of it is,
however, that these affectionate demonstrations are kept up during the
nesting season, so that even when one bird relieves its mate upon the
eggs it must needs pause for a while outside the nest to bow and sway
and swap compliments.
The Northwestern Flicker is largely, but not exclusively, resident in
winter. Being restricted at that season as to its insect diet, its
presence appears to depend more or less upon the abundance of fruits and
nuts. It eats not only grubs and worms but seeds, acorns and berries of
various kinds. The fruit of the madrone appears to be a special favorite
with this bird, as it is with the Robin, and I fancied that Flickers
were unusually abundant on that account in the winter of 1907-08.
_Cuculidæ_—The Cuckoos
No. 180.
CALIFORNIA CUCKOO.
A. O. U. No. 387 a. Coccyzus americanus occidentalis Ridgway.
Synonyms.—Western Yellow-billed Cuckoo. Rain-crow.
Description.—_Adult_: Above nearly uniform, satiny, brownish gray,
with something of a bronzy-green sheen; the inner webs of the
primaries cinnamon-rufous, the outer webs and sometimes the wing
coverts tinged with the same; central pair of tail-feathers like the
back and completely covering the others during repose; remaining pairs
sharply graduated,—blackish with broad terminal white spaces, the
outer pair white-edged; a bare space around the eye yellow; underparts
uniform silky white or sordid; bill curved, upper mandible black,
except touched with yellow on sides; lower mandible yellow, with black
tip. _Immature_: Similar to adult, but plumage of back with slight
admixture of cinnamon-rufous or vinaceous; tail-feathers narrower,—the
contrast between their black and white areas less abrupt. Length
12.50-13.50 (317.5-342.9); wing 6.00 (152.4); tail 6.50 (165.1); bill
1.06 (26.9); depth of bill at base .38 (9.7).
Recognition Marks.—Robin to Kingfisher size; slim form and lithe
appearance; brown above, white below; sharply-graduated, broadly
white-tipped tail-feathers.
Nesting.—_Nest_: a careless structure of twigs, bark-strips, and
catkins, placed in trees or bushes, usually at moderate heights.
_Eggs_: 3 or 4, pale greenish blue, becoming lighter on continued
exposure. Av. size, 1.31 × .94 (33.3 × 23.9). _Season_: June-August;
one brood.
General Range.—Western temperate North America from northern Lower
California north to southern British Columbia, east to New Mexico and
western Texas, and south over tablelands of Mexico.
Range in Washington.—Rare summer resident, chiefly west of Cascades.
Authorities.—[“Yellow-billed cuckoo” Johnson, Rep. Gov. W. T., 1884
(1885), 22]. Lawrence, Auk, Vol. IX., No. 1. Jan. 1892, p. 44. T.(?)
L¹. D¹. Ra. B. E.
Specimens.—(U. of. W.) Prov. E.
It is possible that these birds are really more numerous in Washington,
west of the Cascades, than is generally supposed. They are, however,
extremely shy and retiring in their habits, and very local in
distribution. The latter characteristic is carried to such an extent
that they may almost be said to colonize. For example, the only place
they may be found with certainty, near Tacoma, is in a small area well
within the city limits and surrounded by houses. In this small space
four or five pairs may be found at any time during the summer.
Their harsh _krow-krow-krow-krow_, and the more plaintive _kru-kru,
kru-kru_, is most often heard along the outskirts of some swamp
encircled by a heavy growth of brush and small conifers mixed with
deciduous trees. From the _krow-krow_ note the birds have gained the
name Rain Crow, popular superstition pointing out the fact that it
usually rains soon afterward (an occurrence not at all unlikely to
happen in western Washington, irrespective of the suggestion of the
Cuckoo).
Their food consists entirely of caterpillars, spiders, and other
insects, this being perhaps the only bird to make war extensively upon
the tent-caterpillar. The poem, “He sucks little birds’ eggs to make his
voice clear,” etc., applies only to the Cuckoo of Europe. Small birds,
it is true, are very often seen in pursuit of a Cuckoo, but this must be
purely on account of its close resemblance in form to that of their
arch-enemy, the Sharp-shinned Hawk.
The nest is rather a frail structure, tho much more bulky than nests of
the Black-billed or Yellow-billed Cuckoo. It is placed from four to ten
feet from the ground, usually nearer ten, and is most often built
against the trunk of a baby fir. The materials used consist of coarse
dead twigs, heavily lined with coarse tree-moss and sprays of dead fir
needles.
The eggs are two or three in number, most often three, and are laid from
the second week in June to the first of July. They are a pale bluish
green in color, overlaid with a light chalky deposit, somewhat like that
found on Cormorant eggs. In shape they vary from long to rounded oval,
and average in measurement 1.60 × .99 inches. A week often elapses
between the laying of the first and the last egg.
Upon one occasion I noticed a most interesting trait in these birds,
which I never observed in any other species. While standing in an open
woodland listening to a pair of Cuckoos calling to each other, I saw the
male suddenly fly past with a large green worm in his bill. He flew
directly to the female, who was perched in a tree a few yards distant,
and for a moment or two they sat motionless a few inches apart looking
at each other. The male then hovered lightly over his mate and, settling
gently upon her shoulders, gracefully bent over and placed the worm in
her bill. It was a pretty and daintily performed piece of love-making.
J. H. Bowles.
_Alcedinidæ_—The Kingfishers
No. 181.
BELTED KINGFISHER.
A. O. U. No. 390. Ceryle alcyon (Linn.).
Synonym.—Commonly called plain Kingfisher.
Description.—_Adult male_: Above, bright bluish gray, feathers with
blackish shafts or shaft-lines; loosely crested; edge of wing white;
primaries dusky, white-spotted on outer web, narrowly white-tipped,
broadly white on inner web; coverts often delicately tipped or touched
with white; tail bluish gray above, the central feathers with
herring-bone pattern of dusky; remaining feathers only blue-edged,
dusky, finely and incompletely barred with white; lower eyelid white,
and a white spot in front of eye; throat and sides of neck, nearly
meeting behind, pure white; a broad band of bluish gray across the
breast; remaining underparts white, sides under wing, and flanks,
heavily shaded with blue-gray; bill black, pale at base below; feet
dark. _Adult female_: Similar, but with a chestnut band across lower
breast, and with heavy shading of the same color on sides. _Immature_:
Like adults, except that the plumbeous band of breast is heavily mixed
with rusty (suggesting chestnut of female). Length 12.00-14.00
(304.8-355.6); wing 6.21 (157.7); tail 3.84 (97.5); bill from nostril
1.69 (42.9).
Recognition Marks.—“Kingfisher” size; blue-gray and white coloration;
piscatorial habits; rattling cry.
Nesting.—_Nest_: at end of tunnel in bank, four to six feet in,
unlined. _Eggs_, 6-8, pure white. Av. size, 1.31 × 1.04 (33.3 × 26.4).
_Season_: May; one brood.
General Range.—North America from the Arctic Ocean south to Panama and
the West Indies. Breeds from the southern border of the United States
northward.
Range in Washington.—Summer resident, chiefly at lower levels;
partially resident west of the Cascades, and casually resident on the
East-side.
Authorities.—[Lewis and Clark. Hist. Ex. (1814) Ed. Biddle: Coues.
Vol. II., p. 189.] _Ceryle alcyon_, Boie, Baird, Rep. Pac. R. R. Surv.
IX., 1858, p. 158. T. C&S. L¹. D¹. Sr. Kb. Ra. D². Ss¹. Ss². Kk. J. B.
E.
Specimens.—U. of W. P. Prov. B. BN. E.
When we were small boys and had successfully teased our fathers or big
brothers to let us go fishing with them, we were repeatedly admonished
not to “holler” for fear of scaring the fish. This gratuitous and
frequently emphatic advice would have been discredited if the example of
the Kingfisher had been followed. Either because noise doesn’t matter to
fish, or because he is moved by the same generous impulse which prompts
the cougar to give fair and frightful warning of his presence at the
beginning of an intended foray, the bird makes a dreadful racket as he
moves up stream and settles upon his favorite perch, a bare branch
overlooking a quiet pool. Here, altho he waits long and patiently, he
not infrequently varies the monotony of incessant scrutiny by breaking
out with his weird rattle—like a watchman’s call, some have said; but
there is nothing metallic about it, only wooden. Again, when game is
sighted, he rattles with excitement before he makes a plunge; and when
he bursts out of the water with a wriggling minnow in his beak, he
clatters in high glee. If, as rarely happens, the bird misses the
stroke, the sputtering notes which follow speak plainly of disgust, and
we are glad for the moment that Kingfisher talk is not exactly
translatable.
[Illustration: _Taken near Portland._ _Photo by A. W. Anthony._
THE KING ROW.]
It is not quite clear whether the bird usually seizes or spears its
prey, altho it is certain that it sometimes does the latter. The story
is told of a Kingfisher which, spying some minnows in a wooden tub
nearly filled with water, struck so eagerly that its bill penetrated the
bottom of the tub, and so thoroly that the bird was unable to extricate
itself; and so died—a death almost as ignominious as that of the king
who was drowned in a butt of Malmsey wine.
[Illustration: _Taken near Portland._ _Photo by A. W. Anthony._
A FISHER PRINCE AT HOME.]
When a fish is taken the bird first thrashes it against its perch to
make sure it is dead, and then swallows it head foremost. If the fish is
a large one its captor often finds it necessary to go thru the most
ridiculous contortions, gaspings, writhings, chokings, regurgitations,
and renewed attempts, in order to encompass its safe delivery within.
Kingfishers have the reputation of being very unsocial birds. Apart from
their family life, which is idyllic, this reputation is well sustained.
Good fishing is so scarce that the birds deem it best to portion off the
territory with others of their own kind, and they are very punctilious
about the observance of boundaries and allotments. For the rest, why
should they hunt up avian companions, whose tastes are not educated to
an appreciation of exposed, water-soaked stubs, and a commanding view of
river scenery? However, I did once see a Kingfisher affably hobnobbing
with a Kingbird, on a barren branch which overlooked a crystal stream in
Idaho. I wonder if they recognized a mutual kingliness, this humble
fisherman and this petulant hawk-driver?
Kingfisher courtship is a very noisy and spirited affair. One does not
know just how many miles up and down stream it is considered proper for
the gallant to pursue his enamorata before she yields a coy acceptance;
and it is difficult to perceive how the tender passion can survive the
din of the actual proposal, where both vociferate in wooden concert to a
distracted world. But la! love is mighty and doth mightily prevail.
The nesting tunnel is driven laterally into the face of a steep bank,
preferably of sand or loam, usually directly over the water, but
occasionally at a considerable distance from it. Dr. Brewer reports one
in a gravel pit at least a mile from water. The birds are not so
particular as are the Bank Swallows about digging near the top of the
bank, but, especially if the bank is small, usually select a point about
midway. The tunnel goes straight in or turns sharply to suit an
occasional whim, until a convenient depth, say five or six feet, is
reached, when a considerable enlargement is made for the nest chamber.
Here, early in May, six or seven white eggs are laid, usually upon the
bare earth, but sometimes upon a lining of grass, straw and trash. From
time to time the birds eject pellets containing fish scales, the broken
testæ of crawfish and other indigestible substances and these are added
to the accumulating nest material. Sanitary regulations are not very
strict in Kingfisher’s home, and by the time the young are ready to fly
we could not blame them for being glad to get away. The female is a
proverbially close sitter, often permitting herself to be taken with the
hand, but not until after she has made a vigorous defense with her sharp
beak. If a stick be introduced into the nest she will sometimes seize it
so tightly that she can be lifted from the eggs, turtle fashion.
[Illustration: EVENING ON THE PEND D’OREILLE.]
The parents are very busy birds after the young have broken shell, and
it takes many a quintal of fish to prepare six, or maybe seven, lusty
fisher princes for the battle of life. At this season the birds hunt and
wait upon their young principally at night, in order not to attract
hostile attention to them by daylight visits. Only one brood is raised
in a season, and since fishing is unquestionably a fine art, the
youngsters require constant supervision and instruction for several
months. A troop of six or eight birds seen in August or early in
September does not mean that Kingfisher is indulging in mid-summer
gaities with his fellows, but only that the family group of that season
has not yet been broken up.
The Kingfisher is not only a fresh water bird of wide distribution, but
a lover of the sea. It is found thruout the length of our ample shores
on both sound and ocean; but is, of course, most common where suitable
nesting bluffs of clay or sand are afforded. Thruout western Washington
the bird is largely resident, and if this very stable species ever does
begin to show variation, it will be in the Pacific Northwest.