194 Birds of Xortii Carolina 



Genus Melanerpes (Swains.) 

 179. Melanerpes erythrocephalus (Linn.). RED-nEADP:D Woodpecker. 



Description. — Whole hoad and iici-k rod in adult; belly, rump, and secondaries white; rest of 

 plumage glossy black. Young with the r<'d and black replaced 1)\- l)r(nvnish gray, and secondaries 

 b.arred with black. L., !)..-)0; \V., r,.M; T., 3.2.5. 



Rarine. — United States, east of the Kocky Mountains. 



Range in A'oiih Carolina. — \\'hole State at all seasons. 



Fig. 1.")2. Hkii-he.mieij WixinrECKEK. 



Tlic JJcil-hcaded Woodpecker is a (•(imiiiou liird in Xortli Carolina, its ahundance 

 seeming to depend, however, on local conditions. In Wake County, for instance, 

 it a])i)ears to be quite conmion in the city of IJaleigh, wherever there are groves of 

 oak tree.*;, as acorns furnish a considerable part of its food. It also feeds on in-sects, 

 which it digs from rotten wood or catches on the wing. Corn in the silk, and 

 various kinds of fruit, are also eaten. Bendire, in Life Histories of Xorlh Amer- 

 ican Birds, says that it eats both the eggs and young of small liirds, and ([uotes 

 many instances in support of this statcMuent. 



Its nesting habits are those coniinnn lo I he iiii'mi)ors of the family, the hole i)eing 

 dug in a dead tree or limb, or even in a telegrai)h or telephom^ pole or flag-i)ole. A 

 pair made their nest in the ball on the top of the flagstaff on the State Capitol 

 some years ago. 



Genus Centurus i Swains.) 



180. Centurus carolinus {Linn.). Red-bellied Woodpecker. 



Dcxcriiilion: .!</. S. — Whole top of head and back of the neck bright scarlet; back regularly 

 barred with black .and white; primaries l)lack at the end, white, irregularly barred with Mack, 

 .'it the base; secondaries black, regularly spotted and barred with white; upper tail-covcrls white, 

 with streaks or arrowheads of black; outer tail-feathers and inner vanes of the middle ones irregu- 

 larly marked with broken black and white bars; cheeks and underparts dull ashy white, the region 

 about the base of the bill, the middle of the belly, and sometimes the breast, more or less tinged 

 with red. Ad. 9. — Similar, but witli the crown grayish ashy, the scarlet confined to the nape 

 and nostrils. Jm. — Similar, but with the belly sometimes tinged with bulTv instead ( f red. 

 L., 9.50; W., .5.00; T., 3.40; H., 1.10. (Chap., Jiirds of E. N. A.) 



Runfie. — llnited States, east of Kocky Mountains. 



Raiujc in Xorih Carolina. — \\'hole State at all seasons, but local. 



