WOODPECKERS 



155 



seventy feet from the jjround. I'lu-se holes, 

 after heing abandoned, arc a great boon to hole- 

 nesting birds that are not able to cxeavate hollows 

 of their own. Screech Owls, Sparrow Hawks, 

 and Wood Ducks thus prosper by the industry 

 of their Woodpecker neighbors. I'rom three to 

 six pure white eggs are laid on a bed nf hne 

 chipped-otT fragments of wood. 



Pileated Woodpeckers frequently show an 

 absence of fear of man which one would not 

 exj)ect in a bird that is so distinctly a forest- 

 dweller. Thus, when there are heavy growths 

 of original woods near a village, they will at times 

 come close about houses provided these are sur- 

 rounded by large old trees. While camping in 

 the hammocks of central Florida. 1 have now and 

 then walked up to within thirty yards of a Pil- 

 eated Woodpecker busy at work on some rotting 

 log, without the bird i)aying the slightest atten- 

 tion to my presence. 



.•\s this \\'oodpecker seems not to possess the 

 faculty of adapting itself to the new conditions 

 created bv civilization, it is quite possible that it 

 will not long survive the passing of our primeval 

 forests. T. Gii.hkut I'k.xrson. 



The food of the l^ileated Woodpecker does not 

 interest the farmer or horticulturist for it is ob- 

 tained entirely from the forest. The bird does 

 not visit the orchard or the grain field, but all 

 of its work in the forest helps to conserve timber. 

 Its animal food consists probably of beetles and 

 ants and its vegetable food of wild fruits. 



Drawing by R. Bruce Horsfall 



PILEATED WOODPECKER (J nat. size) 



As the forests are cut down, this Woodpecker disappears from 

 its old haunts 



RED-HEADED WOODPECKER 

 Melanerpes erythrocephalus ( Linncciis) 



A. O. U. Xumber 406 See Color Plate 62 



Other Names. — Redhead ; Tricolor ; Tri-colored 

 Woodpecker ; White-shirt ; Jellycoat : Shirt-tail ; Pat- 

 riotic Bird ; Flag Bird. 



General Description. — Length, q inches. Head, 

 red ; back, black with white patches ; under parts, 

 white. 



Color. — Adults: Head, neck, and upper chest, uni- 

 form lirii/ht crimson, margined behind by a distinct, 

 (usually more or less concealed) semi-circular band of 

 black across chest; back and shoulders, uniform glossy 

 blue-black, the wing-coverts, black margined with glossy 

 blue-black; priinary coverts, primaries, and tail, uniform 

 black, the latter (except two to four middle feathers) 

 tipped with white, the outside pair sometimes edged 

 with white ; rump, upper tail-coverts, secondaries, and 

 under wing-coverts (except along margin of wing), 



uniform pure white, the secondaries with shafts and 

 basal portion (mostly concealed), black; under parts 

 below upper chest, white, the abdomen tinged with dull 

 yellowish or salmon color, sometimes with bright red ; 

 bill, bluish-white; iris, deep brown or reddish-brown. 

 Young: Very different from adults; head, neck, and 

 upper chest, brownish-gray, streaked or spotted with 

 black, sometimes suffused or intermixed with red on 

 hindneck or on sides of head; back, shoulders, and 

 wing-coverts, black, the feathers margined with pale 

 gray ; secondaries, white with one or two broad bands 

 of black (sometimes interrupted) on extremities; under 

 parts, below chest, dull white to very pale brownish- 

 gray, the sides and flanks (especially the latter), some- 

 times also the breast, streaked with dusky ; otherwise 

 much as in adults. 



