A RED-THROATED RED-HEAD. 



In my collection of mounted birds, compi'ising 

 a number of rare and beautiful specimens, there is 

 none that I prize more highly than the yellow- 

 bellied woodpecker. As I write, I have set him 

 before me on my desk, and will describe his mark- 

 ings so that you may recognize him at a glance if 

 you happen to meet him in one of your rambles to 

 the woods. 



His whole crown is crimson, bordered all around 

 by black. A large carmine patch on his throat 

 makes him look just a little frightful ; as if he had 

 been murdered, and the blood was streaming out 

 and staining his feathers. In the specimen before 

 me the red throat-patch is slightly flaked with 

 white. Across his breast he wears a bib (as Olive 

 Thorne Miller would say) of blue-black. The rest 

 of his under parts >re soiled with pale j^ellow, 

 from which he gets his name. The sides are 

 speckled and striped with blackish, gray and buff. 

 Above he is beautifull}^ mottled with black and 



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