A First Glance at the Birds, 



of us. It is black, with the entire head 

 white, and a patch of the same on the 

 wings. The male bird has a scarlet band 

 on the back of the neck. There are 

 also the Arctic three-toed woodpecker^ 

 found in our high Sierras, a black-backed, 

 white-breasted bird, the male with a 

 crown-patch of yellow ; the red-breasted 

 sapsucker, a showy fellow when in full 

 plumage; and the great pileated wood- 

 pecker, with one exception the largest 

 of his tribe in this country, and a denizen 

 of the most secluded woodlands. 



The California woodpecker has gained 

 world-wide celebrity from its habit of 

 riddling dead trees with holes and filling 

 them with acorns. It is a gaily adorned 

 species, with a glossy, blue back, white 

 wing and rump patches, a scarlet cap and 

 a white forehead and throat-patch. The 

 under parts are white, tinged with sulphur 

 yellow, except the breast, which is black, 

 and the sides, which are more or less 

 streaked with black. The merry, though 

 unmusical, ka rak' ka^ ka rak' ka of this 



38 



