KED-BELLIED WOODPECKER 243 



M. P. Skinner (1928) says: "Although other woodpeckers carry off 

 and store bits of food, the red-bellied woodpeckers appear to do it 

 more than any others in the Sandhills. These birds are rather easily 

 attracted to artificial feeding stations, especially if suet be offered 

 them. They will eat nuts and bread crumbs, also, but not as 

 greedily." 



Behavior. — ^Mr. Skinner (1928) writes: "In flight, these wood- 

 peckers are apt to progress step by step from tree to tree. In this 

 respect, and in that it is undulating, their flight is much like that 

 of other woodpeckers. In approaching a perch, the red-bellied wood- 

 peckers usually glide and sweep up to it with the impetus already 

 gained. * * * These woodpeckers work and hammer on the 

 trunks of trees, on the boles of oaks, on boles high up in live or 

 blasted pines, and on both living and dead limbs, usually working 

 up, but working down also if they want to, using a peculiar partly- 

 sidewise drop downward." 



Voice. — Mr. Simmons (1925) gives the following elaborate inter- 

 pretations of the various calls of this noisy bird : 



In fall and winter, a soft scolding chuh; chuh-chtih ; clioic-cliow; cJierr-cherr ; 

 or chawh-chawh. At other seasons, a variety of calls : a slow, harsh crer-r-7'-r- 

 r-r r r r r r r or chur-r-r-r-r r r r r r r; a noisy charr-r-r or chawh-chawh; a 

 rather slow, regular chuh-chuh-chuh-chuh-chuh, sometimes tittered in a series 

 of a dozen or more as rapidly as the syllables can be plainly pronounced; a 

 very rapid chuck-a-chuck-a-chuck-a-cJiuck-a-chuck-a-chuck-a-cMick-a; a slow, 

 harsh sherr, cherr, cherr or crerr, crerr, crerr, crerr, crerr; an alarmed cha- 

 cha-cha; at intervals, a loud, bold, running, connected koo er-r-r-r; qu er-r-r-r-r; 

 qui er-r-r-r-r; or k-r-r-ring, uttered with a distinct rolling of the r's ; in the 

 nesting season, an additional whicker. 



Bendire (1895) says: "The Red-bellied, like the majority of our 

 Woodpeckers, is a rather noisy bird. Its ordinary call note resembles 

 the 'tchurr, tchurr' of the red-headed very closely; another sounds 

 more like 'chawh, chawh,' and this is occasionally varied with a dis- 

 agreeable creaking note, while during the mating season peculiar, 

 low, mournful cooing sounds are sometimes uttered, which somewhat 

 resemble those of the Mourning Dove." 



Various other observers have given somewhat similar descriptions 

 of some of the above interpretations. Wlien I first saw this wood- 

 pecker, many years ago in Florida, climbing up the trunk of a cab- 

 bage palmetto, its rolling notes sounded to me like those of a tree 

 toad, as heard before a rain. 



Field marks. — The red-bellied woodpecker is so conspicuously 

 marked that it could hardly be overlooked. It is a medium-sized 

 woodpecker, about the size of the hairy ; the entire back and rump are 

 conspicuously barred transversely with black and white; the wings 

 are spotted or barred with white; the under parts are uniform gray, 

 except for the inconspicuous reddish tinge on the abdomen; in the 



