The Harris Woodpecker visits the winter troupes only in a patronizing way. He is far too restless and independent to be counted a constant member of any little gossip club, and, except briefly during the mating season and in the family circle, he is rarely to be seen in the company of his own kind.
The nest of this bird is usually placed well up in a small dead fir tree in some burn or slashing on dry ground. It is about ten inches deep and has no lining save fine chips, among which the crystal white eggs, four or five in number, lie partially imbedded. Incubation is begun from the last week in April to the last week in May, according to altitude, and but one brood is raised in a season. These Woodpeckers are exceptionally valiant in defense of their young, the male in particular becoming almost beside himself with rage at the appearance of an enemy near the home nest.
No. 165.
DOWNY WOODPECKER.
A. O. U. No. 394 c. Dryobates pubescens medianus (Swains.).
Description.—Similar to D. v. monticola, but much smaller; wing-coverts heavily spotted with white,—a round blotch on tip of each feather; wing-quills and primary-coverts heavily spotted with white on both webs, the blotches on outer webs forming bars on the closed wing; tertials barred and tipped with white; the outer tail-feathers barred with black; underparts white or slightly soiled. Length of adult 6.25-7.00 (158.8-177.8); wing 3.75 (95.3); tail 2.60 (66.1); bill .66 (16.8).
Recognition Marks.—Sparrow size; black-and-white color pattern with small size distinctive; red nape of male; heavily white-spotted on wings as compared with D. p. homorus; white below as compared with D. p. gairdnerii.
Nesting.—Does not breed in Washington. Nest: A hole in stub or 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.