540 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



in 4,631, from the Upper Missouri, the outer web of the same feather has 

 nearly, and in 2,107, from Carlisle, it has quite, as much white as the inner 

 web. The outer webs do not appear to vary so much. 



Specimens from the whole of Mexico, including even the west coast, are 

 referrible to varius ; they are probably winter migrants from the eastern 

 United States. 



A female, from Washington, D. C. (No. 12,260, C. Drexler), has the lower 

 half of the throat much mixed with red, as in var. nuchalis ; but there is no 

 trace of this color on the nape. A male from Carlisle (No. 12,071, W. M. 

 Baird) has the nape distinctly tinged with red, as in nuchalis, but the black 

 malar stripe is uninterrupted. Similar specimens have been taken in New 

 England, by Messrs. Brewster and Henshaw. 



Many females occur with the entire pileum glossy-black, there being no 

 trace of red, though there are sometimes specks of white. 



Habits. The Yellow-bellied Woodpecker is found throughout the United 

 States, from the Gulf of Mexico on the south and the Atlantic on the east 

 to the Eocky Mountains, and is met with as far to tlie north as the 61st 

 parallel of latitude. Sir John Richardson found it common in the fur coun- 

 tries, being the only Woodpecker that visits those regions in flocks. He 

 observed the Yellow-bellied Woodpecker on the north shore of Lake Huron 

 on the 14tli of April, in 1825, and in 1827 it made its first appearance for 

 the season, on the plains of the Saskatchewan, on the 14tli of May. Swain- 

 son received specimens of this Woodpecker from Mexico. De la Sagra and 

 Dr. Gundlach both give it in their list of Cuban birds, though not as breed- 

 ing on that island. Gosse obtained several specimens in the months of 

 December, January, and February, in Jamaica, where he regarded it as only 

 a winter migrant from tlie northern continent. It is not given by the New- 

 tons among the birds of St. Croix, but appears in Sclater's list of the birds 

 of Central America, on the authority of Mr. George M. Skinner. Two 

 specimens have been taken in Greenland. 



Wilson, in his account of its breeding habits, speaks of it as a resident 

 bird from Cayenne to Hudson's Bay, as being common in the States of Ken- 

 tucky and Ohio, and as having been found in the neighborhood of St. Louis. 

 He describes the habits of this species as similar to those of the Hairy and 

 Downy Woodpeckers, with which it generally associates. The only nest of 

 this bird which Wilson ever met with was in the body of an old pear-tree, 

 about ten or eleven feet from the ground. The hole was almost exactly cir- 

 cular, small for the size of the bird, so that it crept in and out with difficulty ; 

 but the excavation suddenly widened, descending by a small angle, and then 

 running downward about fifteen inches. On the smooth solid wood lay four 

 white eggs. This was about the 25th of May. 



Mr. Audubon, on the other hand, speaks of this species as returning to 

 Louisiana and the other Southern States only about the beginning of Octo- 

 ber, remaining there during the winter, and again taking its departure before 



