Any look at the history of ornithology is extremely
difficult without one or two early reference works.

I recommend:
Bailey, F.M. 1902. Handbook of birds of the Western
United States. Houghton-Mifflin, Boston.

In which you will find:
"D.v.harrisii (Aud.). Harris Woodpecker
"Adult male- Upper parts black, with scarlet nape, white
stripe down back, wing coverts and tertials plain black
or lightly spotted with white; outer primaries with white
spots; outer tail feather plain white; under parts smoky
gray or light smoky brown. Adult female:similar, but
without red nape. Young: similar, but forehead spotted
with white and scarlet of nape extending partlyor wholly
over crown. Length: 9-10, wing 4.70-5.30, tail 32.0-3.75,
bill 1.12-1.40.
"Remarks- The plain back or very lightly spotted wing
coverts and tertials of harrisii distinguish it from northern
or southern hairy woodpeckers, while its smoky underparts
distinguish it from hyloscopus.
"Distribution- Pacific Coast in humid Transition and
Canadian zones, from Alaska south to Northern California
(Humbolt Bay).
"Nest and egs similar to that of Northern Hairy.
"Food- Wood-boring larvae, wasps, weevils, beetles,
ants, seeds and wild berries."

Boy, they don't write 'em like that any more.

Pyle (1997) places Harris Woodpecker as nominate form of
the Pacific Coastal Group "White of back usually with dusky
or black; wing covs with little white spotting; underparts
washed brown."


Jamie Simmons wrote:
>
> Sherry,
>
> Denprocopos villosus is Hairy Woodpecker, which used
> to be divided into subspecies (at least by some
> accounts), of which harrisi is one. They are now just
> considered as morphs or races or forms, I'm not sure
> which. (I don't have references at hand.)
>
> Jamie, Corvallis
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Sherry Hagen [mailto:littlebirder at HOTMAIL.COM]
> > Sent: Tuesday, October 31, 2000 10:51 AM
> > To: Multiple recipients of list OBOL
> > Subject: Woodpecker question.... help
> >
> >
> > I got this email that I could use help answering.
> See
> > below..... and please
> > email me if you know the answer.
> > Thanks, Sherry littlebirder at hotmail.com
> >
> > >>> I'm working on a carving display for the
> Columbia Gorge
> > Interpretive
> > Center in Stevenson. It is to depict the wild life
> that Lewis
> > and Clark saw
> > in the gorge as they came west and as they went east
> again in
> > the spring.
> > Their Journals mention this Harris' Woodpecker they
> saw at
> > the mouth of
> > the Willamette River.They described it. "saw a small
> speckled
> > woodpecker
> > with a white back." Coues identified this bird as
> Harris' woodpecker,
> > Denprocopos villosus harrisi (Audubon), a species
> unknown to
> > science until
> > Audubon described and named it in 1838.
> > I can't find it in any of the books now. I'm
> wondering
> > if the bird is
> > now extinct. Can you give me any help on this?
> > By the way I found out that they found forty
> some
> > different animals,
> > birds, fish or reptiles in the Gorge. The Feather
> and Quill
> > Woodcarvers have
> > taken on this project.
> >
> Thank You,
> > Cecil Olsen
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > O> Sherry Hagen
> > _/_) Vancouver, WA
> > / littlebirder at hotmail.com
> >
>
> __________________________________________________
> Do You Yahoo!?
> Yahoo! Messenger - Talk while you surf! It's FREE.
> http://im.yahoo.com/

--
Mike Patterson Alas, to wear the mantle of Galileo,
Astoria, OR it is not enough to be persecuted
celata at pacifier.com by an unkind establishment,
you must also be right.
---Robert Park
http://www.pacifier.com/~mpatters/bird/bird.html