1924] Swarth: Birds and Mammals of the Skeena Rwer Region 348

all in birch or poplar, mostly dead trees, and no nest was less than
fifty feet above the ground. One male bird collected had the abdomen
bare of feathers. It obviously had been incubating eggs.

. The first young bird was seen flying about on July 7. Shortly
after, the species became notably scarce and few of the birds were
observed through July and August. This, perhaps, was from some
change in habits rather than a shifting of population. The first week
in September numbers appeared once more. Several factors con-
tribute to bring the sapsuckers conspicuously in view. They are
assiduous drummers, on dead trees or on telegraph poles; they have
querulous and noisy call notes, uttered near the nest; they are active
flyeatchers, using a telegraph pole or an isolated tree in a clearing as
a base from which to fly. -

Fourteen specimens collected (nos. 42126-42139). These are
exactly like coastal birds in coloration, but differ in average bill struc-
ture. Compared with specimens from the nearby coast of southeastern
Alaska, the Hazelton birds have the bill noticeably short and heavy.
There is some overlapping in the two lots, for some Alaskan specimens
have bills as short as some Hazelton birds. None of the latter series,
however, has the long, slender bill that is generally characteristic of
the Alaskan birds. Adult sapsuckers from the upper Stikine River
(see Swarth, 1922, p. 220) have the same type of bill as the Hazelton
birds. (For use of the name ruber for the northern subspecies of the
red-breasted sapsucker see Swarth, 1912, p. 34.)

Phloeotomus pileatus picinus Bangs. Western Pileated Woodpecker

In June and again in late September, single birds were seen or
heard several times near the base of Rocher Déboulé, southeast from
Hazelton. This must be about the extreme northern limit of the
species in this region. None was seen in Kispiox Valley, a few miles
to the northward. One specimen collected (no. 42140), a male taken
September 22. ZA

Colaptes auratus borealis Ridgway. Boreal Flicker

Breeds abundantly in the lowlands, mostly in deciduous timber.
Present when we arrived, May 25, and until our departure, Septem-
ber 26. During the last two weeks in August flickers were extremely
scarce; then, early in September, they suddenly appeared in numbers

and remained abundant throughout the month.