The Birds' Calendar 



alias "yellow-hammer." It has eleven other 

 names, based on its habits or appearance. This 

 is quite a large bird, over twelve inches long, 

 of a curiously mottled brownish color above, 

 whitish and black spotted beneath, with a black 

 crescent on its breast and a scarlet crescent on the 

 back of its head. In flight it is easily identified 

 by the large white area on the lower part of the 

 back or rump. The finest view of it is when 

 it spreads its broad wings against the sunlight, 

 for they are of a deep rich yellow inside, from 

 which it gets the name of " golden-winged." 

 Its variety of names shows its prevalence over 

 an extensive area, being found from the Gulf of 

 Mexico to Hudson's Bay. They are not in the 

 fullest sense of the term woodpeckers, inasmuch 

 as their food is largely gathered from the ground, 

 consisting of ants and other insects, berries and 

 grain, although at times showing the instinct 

 of the true woodpecker in extracting insects, 

 larvae and eggs from the bark. Like the other 

 species, they excavate their nests in the trees, 

 and some of the accounts of their nest-building 

 are very interesting. It has a very harsh, loud 

 note, uttered singly, and another, softer and 

 sweeter, often repeated rapidly a dozen times 

 or more, which is hardly distinguishable from 



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