SCANSORES : PICIDjE. 



153 



all round, grayish white ; base of the bill and sides of the 

 head, dark crimson ; belly red, streaked with whitish. 



The Genus Colaptes comprises Woodpeckers with a 

 slender bill, large feet, and long tail. 



The Golden-winged Woodpecker, C. auratus, Sw., of 

 North America east of the Rocky Mountains, is one of 

 the most beautiful birds of this family. It is twelve and 

 a half inches long, the wing six inches, the top of the 

 head and the upper part of the neck bluish ash, a red 

 crescent on the nape, the other upper parts, except the 

 pure white rump, light olivaceous-brown with transverse 

 bands of black, and a patch upon the cheeks black ; the 

 lower parts yellowish white tinged with brownish and 

 ornamented with circular black spots, and with a black 

 crescent upon the breast. The shafts and under sur- 

 faces of the wings and tail feathers are gamboge-yellow. 

 On the first sunny days of spring the Golden-winged 

 Woodpeckers appear . Fig. 97 . 



on the tops of the 

 decayed trees, and, as 

 they hop about, strik- 

 ing with their bills here 

 and there, make the 

 woods resound with 

 their loud, merry notes. 

 Soon they are paired, 

 and both male and fe- 

 male begin to excavate 

 a hole in a tree for the 

 nest. The female lays 

 four to six beautiful 

 white eggs for each 

 brood, and two broods 

 are reared in a season. Golden-winged woodpecker, c. auratus, 



The Red-shafted Flicker, C. mexicanus, Sw., of Western 



