250 BIRDS OF ONTARIO. 



hammering is at all times a guide to those who wish to follow them 

 in the woods. A nest was taken in the county of Middlesex, in 

 May, 1885, by Mr. RoV)t. Elliot. 



Dr. Macallum reports that they still l)reed in suitaV)le places along 

 the north shore of Lake Erie, near Dunnville. Their distribution 

 seems to be more influenced by the size of the timber than by the 

 temperature, as they ai^e common in Manitoba and abundant in 

 British Columbia, but are not named among the " Birds of Alaska." 

 Though now rare, or absent, in the thickly settled parts of the 

 Eastern States, they are still common in the timbered swamps and 

 secluded woods in the south. The nest is usually made in a retired 

 part of the woods, and at so great a height from the ground that it 

 is seldom reached by the oologist. This fact will help to prevent the 

 species being reduced in nuinbers. 



Genus MELANERPE8 Swainsox. 



SuBOENus MELANEllPES. 



MELANERPE8 ERYTHROCEPHALUS (Linn.). 



177. Red-headed Woodpecker. (406) 



Glossy blue-black ; rump, secondaries and under parts from the breast, pure 

 white ; primaries and tail feathers, black ; whole head, neck and breast ciimson 

 in both sexes, grayish-brown in the young. Al)out 9 ; wing, 'ih ; tail, 85. 



Hab. — United States, west to the Rocky Mountains, straggling westward 

 to Salt Lake Valley ; rare or local east of the Hudson River. 



Nest, in a hole in a tree, varying greatly in height. 



Eggs, four to six, white. 



In Ontario the Red-headed Woodpecker is a summer resident 

 only, arriving early in May and leaving again in September. It is 

 quite common and perhaps the best known of any of the wood- 

 peckers, both on account of its decided markings and from its habit 

 of visiting the orchard during the season of ripe fruit. It is also an 

 expert fly-catcher, frecjuently taking its position on the top of a 

 dead pine, from which it darts out after the passing insect in true 

 fly-catcher style. Though a very showy bird when seen in the 

 woods, it does not look so well in collections, the red of the head 

 evidently fading after death. 



It is generally distributed throughout Ontai-io, but becomes rare 



