446 WOODPECKERS. 



RED-HEADED WOODPECKER. 



Melanerpes erythrocephalus. 



Char. Back, tail, and primaries blue black ; head, neck, and breast 

 crimson ; belly, rump, and secondaries white. Length 9 to 9_^ inches. 



J\i'cst. In woodland, pasture, or orchard ; usually a cavity in a decayed 

 tree. 



Eggs. 4-6; glossy white ; i.oo X 0.80. 



This common and well-known species is met with along the 

 coast from Nova Scotia to the Gulf of Mexico, and inland in 

 the region of the Rocky Mountains and about the sources of 

 the Mississippi. In all the intermediate country, however 

 extensive, it probably resides and breeds. At the approach 

 of winter, or about the middle of October, these birds migrate 

 from the North and West, and consequently appear very 

 numerous in the Southern States at that season. Many of 

 them also probably pass into the adjoining provinces of Mex- 

 ico, and they reappear in Pennsylvania (according to Wilson) 

 about the first of May. According to Audubon, they effect 

 their migration in the night, flying high above the trees in a 

 straggling file, at which time they are heard to emit a sharp 

 and peculiar note, easily heard from the ground, although the 

 birds themselves are elevated beyond the sight. Like the 

 Log-cock, the present species is but rarely seen in the mari- 

 time parts of Massachusetts ; this region is only occasionally 

 visited by solitary stragglers, yet in the western parts of the 

 State it is said to be as common as in the Middle States. 



These birds live principally in old forests of tall trees, but are 

 much less shy than most of the genus, frequently visiting the 

 orchards in quest of ripe fruits, particularly cherries and juicy 

 pears and apples, with which they likewise occasionally feed 

 their young. They also at times eat acorns, of which they are 

 said to lay up a store, and visit the maize-fields, being partial 

 to the corn while in its juicy or milky state. In consequence 

 of these dependent habits of subsistence, the Red-headed 

 Woodpecker is a very familiar species, and even sometimes 



