on some of the North American Woodpeckers. 49


drills holes in the stems of fruit trees to reach, with his barbed

tongue, the insects hidden under the bark. He seems so intent on

his work that it is often quite possible to get close to him without

in the least disturbing him, and to watch with what precision he

hits and hammers round the same spot until he has made a hole

large enough to suit his purpose, whatever it may be.


The Red-Headed Woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus) is

a good deal larger than the Downy, being some 9 in. long. He is a

much rarer bird, but one of the smartest of the family. In the

woods, orchards and gardens his conspicuous feathers and loud

tapping make him easy to follow and find, should he by chance visit

the neighbourhood. He has a black back with some white on it,

a black tail, and black wings marked with a white band; his breast

and under parts are snow-white. This description sounds colourless

enough, but the black has glossy blue lights and sheen on it,

and then he has a bright crimson head and neck, which gives him

just the right touch of colour and beauty and makes him quite

unmistakable.


How hard a pair of these Woodpeckers work to fashion a neat

round hole as the entrance to their nest, which is deep down in

some withered stump ! Scattering sawdust and chips about, inside

and outside the tree, they only seem to pause in their labours now

and then to utter their curious frog-like croaking call.


Nuts and acorns are cleverly hidden by these busy birds in

holes which they have bored in tree stems, and in crevices in the

bark. I often wonder when they begin to eat the store they have

so industriously gathered, and if they really remember in which

tree they are hidden, and if each pair of “Red-heads” knows its

own preserve.


The Yellow-bellied Woodpecker (Sphyrapicus varius) is about

half an inch smaller than the last species. He is another very

handsome bird, black and white, and a good deal shaded with yellow

on the back ; he has a bright crimson crown and throat edged with

black, and a black band round the head, with a narrow white line

round the back from eye to eye, and a broad, creamy white band

from above the bill, curving round the edge of the crimson throat-

patch to the edge of the black breast. The wings are black with



