CATALOGUE OF VERTEBRATES. 519 



" Resident ; everywhere abundant. Frequents apple orchards 

 perhaps more than other places, and is in a measure destructive 

 to the younger trees, and to all growing timber, by the innumer- 

 able perforations it makes in the bark, sometimes completely 

 girdling the tree. Feeds exclusively on insects and their larvae. 

 Builds in decayed trees, in May." 



D. pubescens, L. Downy Woodpecker. Little Sap-sucker. 



Outer tail feathers black and white, barred. Length, 6| 

 inches ; tail, 2f inches. Otherwise like preceding. 



" Equally abundant, and with the same habits as the preceding. 

 It has been suggested that this and the preceding species only 

 perforated the bark of young trees when they have discovered 

 larvse of insects beneath ; but such is not the case, as they per- 

 forate to see if larvae are beneath, not knowing beforehand. 

 The insects themselves are more injurious than the birds, many 

 times over ; and were only ' insect-ridden ' trees visited by the 

 woodpeckers, it would be our duty to defend them. Still, it is 

 doubtful if the injury they inflict overbalances the good." 



D. borealis, Vieill. Red-cockaded Woodpecker. 



Black and white, spotted and crosswise banded, but not 

 streaked ; a red line on each side of the head in males. Length, 

 8i inches ; tail, 3J inches. A southern form inhabiting swamps, 

 and ranging north as far as Pennsylvania. A few possibly may 

 visit our southern swamps. 



SPHYRAPIOUS, Bd. 



Sap-Sucking Woodpeckers. 



S. varius, L. Yellow-bellied Woodpecker, or Sap-Sucker. 



Black and white above; black on breast, chiefly yellowish 

 below ; white wing patch ; crown red in the adult ; chin scarlet 

 in males. Length, 8| inches ; tail, 3 J inches. The young are of 

 a mottled brownish tint. The adult female has the chin and 

 throat white. 



" More abundant during spring and autumn. Seldom seen 

 during the summer, although a few breed in the northern hilly 

 sections of the State. Stragglers occasionally seen during the 



