hairy woodpecker. 243 



Order PICI. Woodpeckers, Wrynecks, etc. 



Family PICID^. Woodpeckers. 



Genus DRYOBATES Boie. 



DRYOBATES VILL08US (Linn.). 



171. Hairy Woodpecker. (39.'.) 



Back, black, with a long white stripe ; quills aiul trin;/ corer/^i, with a 

 profusion of white spots ; four middle tail feathers, black ; next pair, black and 

 white ; next two pairs, white ; under paints, white ; crown and sides of head, 

 black, with a white stripe over and behind the eye, another from the nasal 

 feathers running below the eye to spread on the side of the neck, and a scarlet 

 nuchal band in the ma/e, wanting in the female ; young, with the crown mostly 

 red or bronzy, or even yellowish. Length, 9-10 ; wing, nearly o ; tail, 3^. 



Hab. — Middle portion of the Eastern United States, from the Atlantic 

 coast to the Great Plains. 



Nest, in a hole in a tree. 



Eggs, four or live, pure white. 



This is a resident, though not very abundant species, noticed 

 more frequently in winter than in summer. It is generall}' distrib- 

 uted through Southern Ontario. 



The Hairy Woodpecker is one of the most retiring of the family, 

 spending much of its time in the solitudes of the woods, and when 

 these are thinned out or cleared away, moving to regions still more 

 remote. It is a strong, hardy, active bird, and the noise it makes 

 while hammering on a tree, when heard in the stillness of the woods, 

 might well V)e supposed to be produced l)y a bird of much greater 

 size. 



This is one of those birds which increase in size as they approach 

 their northern limit, and decrease in proportion when found in 

 the south. On this account the American Ornithologists' Union 

 Committee has separated from the original Dryohafes villosus two 

 subspecies, the first of which, under the name of Northern Hair}- 

 Woodpecker, is said to be found in North America, south to about 

 the northern border of the United States. The other has been 

 named the Southern Hairy Woodpecker, and its habitat is said to 

 extend over the southern portion of the United States east of the 

 plains. 



These subdivisions have been decided upon after comparing a 

 large number of specimens from the different regions indicated, but 

 the rule cannot be always correct, for I have some fi^om British 



