WOODPECKERS 131 



farms and orchards. This, too, is a three-toed 

 Woodpecker, often called the Ladder-back, a 

 name that is very significant, for his back is 

 distinctly barred with black and white. He, 

 too, has the orange patch on the crown, and the 

 black wings are spotted with white. The outer 

 tail feathers are black and white, and the sides 

 are barred with the same colors. The under 

 parts are white. The female does not have the 

 crown patch of orange. 



The American Three-toed Woodpecker is more 

 silent than the Arctic variety and is not so com- 

 mon in the woods I have visited in summer. I 

 have more frequently seen them during their 

 short winter excursions to the farming sections 

 of Maine. Their nesting and feeding habits are 

 practically the same as those of their near rela- 

 tives, but they are about an inch shorter. 



Pileated Woodpecker. Not only is this the 

 largest of our northern Woodpeckers, but in 

 many ways he is the most interesting because 

 of his wild nature, bold cries, and vigorous skill 

 as a wood cutter. He, too, is distinctly a den- 

 izen of the dense forests, and while formerly he 

 ranged well south in the eastern portions of the 

 country, I hear of him now only in the deep 

 woods. So tempting a target are they for the 

 hunter in the autumn woods, it appears that 

 they are lessening in numbers. I have found 

 them more abundant and tamer in the pine 

 forests of the South than in the spruce growth of 

 the North. 



When making your way along some woodland 

 trail there will come to your ears a strange 



