WOODPECKERS. 



recorded instance oi tihe iniporta.t.'.on of C. striatus as 

 <t ca.!;e-birJ, but there as every likeLiiiood of it beins 

 again imported. 



Red-headed Woodpecker 

 {Mdanerpes trythroccplialus) . 



Above 'black glossed with greenish blue ; runip and 

 upper tail-cuvc'i-ts white; innermost primary with the 

 lop antl jwrt of tlie margin of inner welb wliite; 

 secondaries wliite with shafts and concealed bases black, 

 the outermost one with a suba,picaJ bar on inner web 

 and the outer web black ; all the ta.il-feathers e.xocpting 

 the central pair with a patch of wliite on iimer welj at 

 base ; the cuter feather tipped and e.xtemally edged with 

 white; nasal plumes brownish black; head, neck, ;uid 

 entii-e centre of chest crimson, the last mentioned 

 narrowly edged at sides with black ; remainder of mider 

 surface white, slightly yellowish on abdomen ; edge of 

 iving black. Female differs in its slightly smaller size 

 and" in its distinctly more slender and slightly longer 

 bill. Hab., United States. 



Major Bendire says of this bird (" Life Histories," 

 pp. 108-112) :— " Its breeding range is coextensive with 

 its distribution. Birds that migrate usually I'Ctum to 

 their summer homes about the latter part of April or 

 the beginning of May, and leave for the south again 

 about the firiit of October. Their moveniemts are very 

 uncertain at all times, and are evidently regulated 

 largely by the food supply ; even on their breeding 

 grounds, wliere they may be common one year, not a 

 single pair may be found the next. Its favourite 

 resortiS in summer are the borders 'of woods, fringes of 

 timber along streamis, solitary trees in fields and 

 pa.stures, shade trees along country woods, and on the 

 treeless praii'ies of some of our Western States it con- 

 tents itself with telegraph poles, fence posts, etc. In 

 the South, newly-cleared fields in which a number of 

 dead. £oirdle<l trees still remain standing are much 

 resorted to. and in such localities these birds are_ very 

 abundant at almost all sea.sons, but especially in winter. 



" In summer the food of the Red-headed Woodpecker 

 consists to a considerable extent of insects of different 

 kinds, such as grasshoppers, ants, beetles, and flies, 

 man.v of which are caught on the wing, and of such 

 lar\'!e as may be hidden under the <bark of trees, or in 

 rotten wood ; but it rarely digs out those of the wood- 

 Ixiring beetles, which are found in more solid trees. 

 At this season it .also feeds largely on fruits and berries, 

 .■^uch as cherries, apples, pears, figs, peaches, and . 

 grapes, as well as on blackberries, raspberries, mul- 

 beiTies, poke and elder berries, green peas, and Indian 

 corn in the milk ; and last, but not least, on young 

 birds and e(rgs.* In the late fall and winter its diet 

 is more largely vegetable, one of its staples being beech- 

 nuts : the berries of the sour gum, dogwood, and pal- 

 metto are also largely eaten : acorns, Indian corn, and 

 small grains are likewise used, and it is well known 

 that these birds also store away supplies, consisting 

 both of insects and vegetable matter, for winter use." 



" Its flight, like that of all Woodpeckers, is undu- 

 lating and surging, and the bird looks especially graceful 

 .%nd pleasing on the wing. It is an adept flycatcher, and 

 its vision is exceedingly siharp. A considei'able portion 

 of its food is picked up on the ground. I have seen one 

 drop down from his perch on some dead limb. fuHv 

 •0) ft. overhead, pick up a small beetle out of the 

 grass, fly back to its perch to eat it, and repeat the 

 same performance as soon as another was espied. I have 



* Mft-ior BeTidire records in full Tarioiis instancies of the 

 cannibalistic ha-bits of thi^ Woodpecker, but they would occupy 

 too much epace for insertion here. 



also seen them cling to the side of a tree or fence post, 

 perfectly motionless, for fifteen minutes at a time." 



" Like most Woodpeckers, the Red-headed is rather 

 noisy during the nesting season, continually frolicking 

 and playing hide and seek with its mate, and when not 

 so engaged, amusing itself by drumming on some 

 resonant dead limb, or on the roof and sides of houses, 

 barns, etc. It is a rather suspicious bird, but where 

 not molested it will occasionally nest in close proximity 

 to houses. Its ordinary call note is a loud " tchur- 

 tchur " ; when chasing each other a sJirill note like 

 " charr-charr " is frequently uttered, and alarm is ex- 

 pressed by a harsli rattling note, as well as by one 

 which, according to Mr. Otto Widmann, is indistinguish- 

 able from the note of the Tree-frog (Hyla arhorea). He 

 tells me that both bird and frog sometimes answer eacli 

 other. I consider this species rather quarrelsome and 

 domineering, both toward its own kind and with other 

 birds, and see little in its general character to commend. 

 From an economic view, it appears to me certainly to 

 do fully as much, af not more, hai-ra than good, and 1 

 consider it less worthy of protection than any of our 

 Woodpeckers, the Yellow-breasted Sapsucker not 

 excepted. 



" In the northern parts of its range nidification begins 

 usually during the last week in May or the first week 

 in June. Some of its nesting sites are exceedingly neat 

 pieces of work ; the edges of the entrance hole are 

 beautifully bevelled off, and the inside is as smooth 

 as if finished with a fine rasp. The entrance is about 

 If inches in diameter, and the inner cavity varies from 

 8 to 24 inches in depth ; the eggs are deposited on a 

 layer of fine chips. It usually nests in the dead tops 

 or limbs of deciduous trees, or in old stumps of oak, 

 ash, butternut, maple, elm, sycamore. Cottonwood, 

 willow, and other species, more rarely in coniferous and 

 fruit trees, at heights varying from 8 to 80 feet from 

 the ground, and also not infrequently in natural cavi- 

 ties. On the treeless prairies it has to resort mainly 

 to telegraph poles and fence posts, and here it also nests 

 under the roofs of houses or in any dark corner it can 

 find. 



" Incubation lasts a.bout two weeks, and both sexes 

 assrist in this labour, as well as in the preparation of 

 the nesting cavity ; an e.gg is laid daily, and incubation 

 sometimes commences before the set is completed. The 

 young of this species are fed in the ordinai'y way, at 

 any rate after they ?re half-grown, the parents bring- 

 ing their food in their bills. The number of eggs to a 

 set varies from four to seven, sets of five being most 

 frequently found, while occasionally as many as eight 

 eggs have been taken from a nest. Mr. R. C. McGregor 

 records taking a set of ten eggs of the Red-,head, vary- 

 ing in size .from ordinary down to that of the Song 

 SpaiTow. Incubation varied from fresh in the smallest 

 egg to advanced in the larger ; the nest was in the 

 end of a rotten limb of a large willow, about 20 ft. 

 from the ground. Locality, Crow Creek, Weld County, 

 Colorado. "May, 1887. Like the eggs of all our Wood- 

 peckers, they ara pure china white in colour : the shell 

 fs fine-grained and rather glos.sy, and when fresh they 

 are quite translucent ; they are mostly short ovate in 

 shape, and show but little variation in this respect. 



" The average mea.«urement of sixty eggs in the 

 T'nited .''.tates National Museum collection is 25.12 by 

 19.25 millimetres, or about 0.99 by 0.76 inch." 



An example of the Red-headied Wocdpecker reached 

 the London Zoological Gardens in April, 1884, and a 

 second was exhibited at the show of the " Ornis " 

 Society in 1890, and sub.sequently an-ived at the Berlin 



