RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER. 449 



the progress of agriculture, he may be seen prowhng among 

 the dead and girdled trees which now afford him an augmented 

 source of support ; and, as a chief of the soil, he sometimes 

 claims his native rights by collecting a small tithe from the 

 usurping field of maize. His loud and harsh call of '(show 

 ''tshow 'ishow 'tshow, reiterated like the barking of a cur, may 

 often be heard, through the course of the day, to break the 

 silence of the wilderness in which his congenial tribe are 

 almost the only residents. On a fine spring morning I have 

 observed his desultory ascent up some dead and lofty pine, 

 tapping at intervals, and dodging from side to side, as he as- 

 cended in a spiral line ; at length, having gained the towering 

 summit, while basking in the mild sunbeams, he surveys the 

 extensive landscape, and almost with the same reverberating 

 sound as his blows, at intervals he utters a loud and solitary 

 'cur'rh in a tone as solemn as the tolling of the Campanero. 

 He thus hearkens, as it were, to the shrill echoes of his own 

 voice, and for an hour at a time seems alone employed in con- 

 templating, in cherished solitude and security, the beauties and 

 blessings of the rising day. 



The nest, early in April, is usually made in some lofty 

 branch ; and in this labor both the sexes unite to dig out a cir- 

 cular cavity for the purpose, sometimes out of the solid wood, 

 but more commonly into a hollow limb. The young appear 

 towards the close of May or early in June, climbing out upon 

 the higher branches of the tree, where they are fed and reared 

 until able to fly, though in the mean time from their exposure 

 they often fall a prey to prowling Hawks. These birds usually 

 raise but one brood in the season, and may be considered, like 

 the rest of their insect-devouring fraternity, as useful scaven- 

 gers for the protection of the forest ; their attacks, as might be 

 reasonably expected, being always confined to decaying trees, 

 which alone afford the prey for which they probe. 



This bird's breeding area lies between Florida and Maryland 

 and northward through the interior to Southern Ontario, where it 

 is quite common. 



VOL. I. — 29 



