230 NOTES ON THE 



fact that they have been obtained at a lower latitude in Wis- 

 consin, adjoining us, and in Massachusetts, and that Richard- 

 son found them on that "north shore," I feel justified in this 

 instance to record the species upon rumor. I have not the 

 slightest doubt but what it belongs to our fauna, and that 

 future observers will find it not very rare. 



SPECIFIC CHARACTERS. 



Black above; the back with transverse bands of white to the 

 rump; a white line from behind the eye, widening on the nape, 

 and a broader one under the eye from the loral region, but 

 not extending on the forehead; occiput and sides of the head 

 uniform black; quills spotted on both webs with white; under 

 parts white; the sides banded transversely with black; top of 

 the head spotted with white; the crown of the male with a 

 yellow patch; bill bluish black; iris dark hazel. 



Length, 8 to 9; wing, 4.45 to 4.50; tail, 3.35 to 3.50. 



Habitat, northern North America, from the arctic regions 

 southward, in winter to the northern United States. 



SPHYRAPICUS TARIUS (L.). (402.) 

 YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER. 



This woodpecker is fairly common throughout the wooded 

 districts, arriving from the first to the fifteenth of April. 

 Those familiar with the species recognize its presence at once 

 by its hammering or drumming of its strong bills on the larger 

 limbs and trunks of partially dead trees. It is said to be a 

 diversion of which they are peculiarly fond, and not as for- 

 merly supposed, the zealous effort of a hungry woodpecker to 

 get a morsel to eat. Their note is exceptionally loud, spirited 

 and distinct, but less voluble than some of the other species. 

 Their food consists of larvae buried underneath the outer bark 

 of trees and insects of the smaller species, to which some add 

 the sap of trees of various kinds. This latter habit may pos- 

 sibly be the case when they are more thirsty than hungry. A 

 number of other species have been charged with destroying 

 valuable trees by tapping them too extensively for food. The 

 question has not yet been definitely settled and possibly may 

 not be for a good while. My own observations have inclined 

 me away from the sap -food theory. 



They mate about the first of May and by the twentieth the 

 nest has been excavated in the trunk of a large tree, perfectly 

 sound or partially decayed, and from forty to sixty feet from 

 the ground in many cases, but occasionally much lower. As a 



