var. harrisi. A specimen collected by Mr. Hepburn at Caribou, on the Upper Fraser, is absolutely undistinguishable from typical P. canadensis in size and markings.
We now come to the western race or variety, hardly to be called species, the P. harrisi of Audubon. Here the extreme of condition most opposed to typical villosus is shown by the entire absence of white on the exposed surface of the wing, except on the outer webs of the four or five longest primaries, where the spots are very small. (We have never seen them entirely wanting.) The white of the back, too, may be normal in amount, or else much restricted. Concealed white spots on some of the feathers will be seen on raising them. The white of tail-feathers sometimes shows black spots or blotches, especially on the inner web of the second. These features belong more especially to specimens from the coast region of Oregon and Washington.
Proceeding eastward from the Northern Pacific Coast we next find specimens showing a few white streaks on the greater coverts and next on the middle coverts. The spots on the secondaries, too, begin to show themselves; but as a general rule they do not occur on the innermost of the greater coverts and of the secondaries. This, therefore, may be considered as the limit of a variety, characterized by the absence at least of spots in these members of the wing.
With the variation in spots in the western variety we have, as already remarked, differences in amount of white on the tail and the back, as well as in the color of the belly, which is sometimes pure white, sometimes of a smoky gray; this latter variation not at all parallel with other differences or with geographical distribution, and equally observable in eastern villosus. The size, too, varies somewhat, but not to the same extent as on the Atlantic side. Here, however, we have Picus jardini of Mexico and Central America, as the small southern race, absolutely undistinguishable from dark-breasted Oregon specimens, except in size (length, 7.00; wing, 3.90; bill above, .85), and perhaps a more fulvous tinge on the under parts. The specimens before me have one or two black spots on the inner web of the next to the outer tail-feather, as in darker varieties of harrisi, but these are not symmetrical or constant in either, and are to be looked on as mere indications of the general tendency to melanism.
Habits. This common and familiar species of Woodpecker has an extended range throughout eastern North America. Specimens in the Smithsonian Institution have been collected from almost every portion of North America east of the Rocky Mountains. Wilson speaks of it as common throughout the continent from Hudson’s Bay to Carolina and Georgia. Mr. Audubon, who regarded Picus martinæ, P. phillipsi, and P. canadensis as distinct species, instead of varieties of this Woodpecker, states, in regard to its distribution, that the P. villosus is a constant resident both in the maritime and inland districts from Texas to New Hampshire, as well as in all the wooded
tracts intervening between the junction of the Missouri and Mississippi, and the northern borders of the great lake. He adds that not an individual was found by him or by his sons in Maine, where he did, however, obtain in great abundance the variety he called P. canadensis. According to Sir John Richardson it is found as far to the north as the 63d parallel. It remains all the year round in the fur countries, and is the most common species up to the fifty-sixth degree of latitude, north of which it yields in frequency to the three-toed species. Dr. Woodhouse speaks of it as common in Texas and in the Indian Territory. Although not crossing the Rocky Mountains in the United States, it reaches the Pacific Coast of British Columbia, and is found north as far as Sitka, and perhaps still farther, thus replacing the var. harrisi. It is a resident, and not a migratory, species, and wherever found it also breeds. Several specimens have been killed in England.
According to the observations of Wilson, this Woodpecker frequents the orchards and cultivated grounds, and is less wild and more domestic than most of the species. In May, with its mate, it seeks the retirement of the woods to breed, selecting a branch already hollowed, or excavating one for itself. In the former case the nest has been known to be four or five feet from the opening. When it excavates its own opening, it digs horizontally six or eight inches into the body of the tree, and then downward to about twice that distance, carrying up the chips in the bill or scraping them out with the feet. They not unfrequently breed in orchards, and have been even known to excavate their holes in the rails of old fences. The female lays five white eggs, which are usually hatched out early in June.
Mr. Audubon observed these birds, at all seasons, in almost every possible locality, from the isolated trees of large towns and cities, even to the very midst of the salt marshes about the mouth of the Mississippi. He found the excavation for the nest more frequently running obliquely than perpendicularly. In the Southern States they rear two broods in a season, the first appearing the last of May, the second usually about the first of August. In the middle and northern districts they rarely raise more than one. Those which Mr. Audubon observed to raise more than one brood in a season made use of the same excavation for both, and not unfrequently within a few yards of a house. The eggs of the first brood he found usually six in number, and of the second four. Where they have but one brood, the number varies from four to six, and in two instances he has found seven. The measure given by him is one inch in length by .69 of an inch in breadth. They are elliptical or almost equally rounded at both ends, smooth, pure white, and translucent. The young remain in the nest until well able to fly.
Mr. Audubon states that the Hairy Woodpecker becomes, during the winter months, a very common bird in all parts of the Southern States, coming to the farm-yards with the downy species to glean the grains of corn left by the cattle. At this season their visits to the corn-cribs are extremely frequent.
They may also be seen clinging to the stalks of the sugar-cane, boring them, and evidently enjoying the sweet juices of that plant.