NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS EGGS. 193 



402. Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. Sphyrapicus varhi*. 



Range. North America, east of the Plains; breeding from Massachusetts 

 northward, and wintering from the Carolinas and Illinois southward. 



This species is one of the most handsomely marked of the 

 family; they can easily be recognized by the red crown and 

 throat (white on the female), each bordered by black, and the 

 yellowish underparts. The members of this genus have been 

 found to be the only ones that are really injurious, and these 

 only to a slight extent, to cultivated trees. This species and 

 the two following are the only real "sapsuckers," a crime 

 that is often attributed to the most useful of the family. 

 Their nesting season is during May and June, they then re- [White.] 



sorting to the interior of the woods, where they deposit their 

 four to seven glossy eggs on the bottom of holes in trees, generally at quite an 

 elevation from the ground. Size of eggs, .85 x .60. 



402a. Red-naped Sapsucker. Sphyrapicus varius nuchalis. 



Range. Rocky Mountain region of the United States and southern Canada 

 south to Mexico and west to California. 



This variety differs from the last, chiefly in nie addition of a band of scarlet 

 on the nape in place of the white on the Yellow-bellied species. Coming as 

 it does, midway between the ranges of the preceding species and the following, 

 this variety, with its extension of red on the head and throat, may be regarded 

 somewhat as a connecting link between the two species, but it is perfectly dis- 

 tinct and does not intergrade with either. There appears to be no difference in 

 the nesting habits of the two varieties, except that the present one, according to 

 Bendire, shows a preference to nesting in live aspens. The eggs measure 

 .90 x .65. 



403. Red-breasted Sapsucker. Sphyrapicus ruber. 



Range. Pacific Coast from Lower California to Oregon. 



Except for a whitish line from the eye to the bill, the entire head, neck and 

 breast of this species is red, of varying shades in different individuals, from 

 carmine to nearly a scarlet; the remainder of their plumage is very similar to 

 that of the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. This is an abundant species and in most 

 parts of the range they are not timid. Like many of the Woodpeckers, they 

 spend a great deal of their time in drumming on some dead limb. They nest 

 commonly in aspens, preferably living ones, and are said to build a new nest- 

 ing hole each year rather than use the old. The eggs are laid during May^or 

 June, being glossy white, five to seven in number, and measuring .90 x . <<>. 



403a. Northern Red-breasted Sapsucker. Sphij rapine ruber notkensis. 



Range. Pacific coast from California to Alaska. 



This is a deeper and brighter variety, and is more yellowish on the belly. Its 

 nesting habits and eggs are the same as those of the southern form. 



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