Lee R. Dice (1918) says that, in southeastern Washington, it is “numerous throughout the year in the timber along the Touchet River near Prescott.
“* * * On June 11, 1908, a nest containing young was found four feet from the ground in an apple tree near Prescott. The female was seen gathering large, red aphids from nearby golden-rod. She would gather all her mouth could hold and until the aphids stuck out like a fringe all around the edges of the bill. Then she flew in a direct line toward the nest. This female was also seen to gather aphids from apple trees.”
A set of four eggs in the Thayer collection was taken near Fort Shaw, Mont., on June 8, 1879; the nesting cavity was 12 feet from the ground in a dead tree and was excavated to a depth of 10 inches. The eggs are characteristic of the species, short-ovate in shape, dull white in color, and only slightly glossy.
The measurements of 28 eggs average 19.86 by 15.29 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure 23.37 by 16.00, 19.0 by 14.8, and 18.4 by 14.4 millimeters.
DRYOBATES PUBESCENS MEDIANUS (Swainson)
NORTHERN DOWNY WOODPECKER
HABITS
Contributed by Winsor Marrett Tyler
The downy woodpecker, including six geographical forms, inhabits nearly the whole of the wooded parts of North America. It is absent or rare on the arid deserts and less common in the densely forested regions than some of the larger woodpeckers; its favorite country is the open woodland that covers a large part of the United States.
When civilized man invaded their territory, the downy woodpeckers of the Atlantic coast—the northern and southern races—did not retreat before his advance but accepted as a home the orchards and shade trees with which man replaced the forest. At the present time it builds its nest sometimes within sight from our windows and often in the parks of our large cities. It is one of the best known of our permanent residents.