3C2 CENTURUS CAROLINUS. 



first timo th;it I had ever held u. Rod-bellied Woodpecker in my hiind und, as I aduiireii 

 its brilliant coloring, I tbonght that it was the most beautiful bird that I ha,d ever shot. 

 Like most ornithologists, however, I have since changed my opinion in regard to this very 

 often and I presume thr.t T shrdl aga.in many times behold in some rara avis what, for a 

 sc;!Son, will be th<! loveliest yet seen. I lielicve that all species, no matter how perfect, 

 loose their charms to the collector after he has shot a dozen or so; this, at least, has been 

 my experience and I do not think that I am any more fickle in this respect than others. 

 Yet after all, I ca,nnot help considering the Red-bellied Woodpeckers, fine birds, even if 

 they have had their day with me and, having got beyond the inclination to kill every one 

 that I see, am never tired of watching their movements. 



I fouvul the Red-beili('(l Woodpec,kers quite abundant in winter in the piney woods 

 which !)order the plantations on the Sea Islands of the Carolinas but as I proceeded south, 

 their numbers increased aiid in Florida,, they fiiidy swarmed, a-ctually occurring in Hocks. 

 They accompanv the Cockaded Woodpeckers in the piny woods and also associate with the 

 YcUaw-bcHies in the swamps ;;nd hummocks; in fact, it is difficult to remain long in any 

 portion of Florida where there are trees, without hearing the discordant croak of these 

 Woodpeckers and I even f)unil them on the Keys. At the time of my visit, Key West 

 had been nearly deauiled of vv^oods for, although there wa,s an a.l)uudance of shrulibery, there 

 Vv^as not a. tree over twen'.y feet high growing on the uncultivated section of the island. 

 The key v/a.s nearly divided into two parts by salt ponds and north of these, the country 

 was purticuhuly barren as there was but a scanty allowance of soil. In fa,ct, the under- 

 lining strata of limestone was exposed in many phices, yet a slight depih of alluvium had 

 b'-en deposited in certain hollows ;uid in them, a few stunted palmetto trees liad managed 

 to take root. Passing these one day, I heard a fa.miliar note a,n(l glancing in the d.irection 

 from wliich it ouiic, saw a Red-bellied Woodpecker clinging to the trunk of one of the 

 dwarfed palms and not far away, I found his mate. Curious to ascertain whether they 

 were local inhabitants or only visitors to this desolate spot, I searched among the low trees 

 for signs of a nest* and soon discovenMl some holes drilled in t!ie fibrous trunks of the pal- 

 mettos one of which was evidently the nest of the pair tliat I had just transferred to my 

 collecting basket. As this was in November, they were not, of course, breeding but only 

 keeping watch over their domicile, least it should be occupied by others. 



Further nortli, on the heavily wooded keys, I found that these Woodpeckers occurred 

 but were not common until I arrived at Miami. Hear they inhabited the piney woods 

 almost exclusively and built their nests about the first of April, excavating the cavities for 

 them in living pine trees. As the breeding season approached, they were, like the Yel- 

 low bellies, quite playful, sporting about the trunks or high limbs of the pine trees, then 

 launching outward, would pursue one another rapidly tlirough the ;dr, for like many other 

 members of this fuuily, these Woodpeckers, although they move in a heavy, undulating 

 ma.niier while on the wing, lly very swiftly. The notes, throughout the breeding season, 

 axe not especially different Irom th.ese given during the winter. Although not unlike those 

 uttered by the Yellow-bellies, they dilf^jr enough to be readily distinguished, lunng loader 

 and perhaps harsher. 



