THE RED-NAPED SAPSUCKER. 431 
breeding in the low hills back of Clinton, where one would hardly expect 
to find any three-toed woodpecker. Usually the species is found in the 
gloomy forests of balsam, spruce, and hemlock, and up to timber line 
Here it is a silent bird, its tapping being usually the only sign of its 
presence. 
The ery is a sharp cluck without the insistent ring of its allies of 
the Dyrobates group. In spring the usual chattering cry, common to so many 
woodpeckers, is heard, but this is more subdued and guttural than that of 
the Hairy Woodpecker. The males will also hang for hours on some dead 
spire beating the regular rattling tattoo of all true woodpeckers. 
When shot, even if instantly killed, three-toed woodpeckers of both 
species have a marvelous faculty of remaining clinging to the tree in death. 
Where the trunks are draped with Usnea moss, it is impossible to bring one 
down, except when winged—then they attempt to fly, and fall to earth; 
but when killed outright they remain securely fastened by their strong curved 
claws. Repeated shots fail to dislodge them, and it is no joke to drop 
a big tree with a camp axe, as I have done, only to find at the finish 
that you cannot discover the object of your quest in the tangle of broken 
branches and dense rhododendron scrub. The only chance is to leave the 
bird and to visit the foot of the tree when the relaxing muscles have at 
length permitted the body to drop—usually within two days. Once I was 
fortunate enough to observe the exact position that enabled the bird to 
maintain its grip. I had shot and killed an Arctic Three-toed Woodpecker 
on a low stump. On going up I found the bird’s feet to be three inches 
apart by measurement; the tail was firmly braced, and the further the body 
was tilted back the more firmly the claws held in the bark. 
ALLAN Brooks. 
No. 171. 
RED-NAPED SAPSUCKER. 
A. O. U. No. 402a. Sphyrapicus varius nuchalis Baird. 
Description —4dult male: Pileum, throat, and nuchal band carmine (or 
poppy-red to crimson) ; crown and throat patches defined by black, narrowly on 
sides, broadly behind, the black border of throat below forming a conspicuous 
crescentic chest-band ; a white streak over and behind eye, more or less continuous 
with black-and-white mottling of upper-back; a transverse stripe from nostril 
around throat and chest, and continuous with white of underparts; remaining 
upperparts black, variously spotted, banded, and blotched with white; middle 
coverts and upper tail-coverts nearly pure white, the first-named forming with 
the exposed edges of the greater coverts a broad white wing-band; underparts 
centrally pure white or flushed with sulphur-yellow ; sides, flanks, and under tail- 
