middle of May and leaving in September, I have once or twice met with them in 

 sheltered woods in south-western Ontario in the winter, where the bright plumage 

 showed to great advantage against the evergreens. 



The habits of the Red-bellied Woodpecker are very similar to those of the 

 above species and its economic value about the same, but as it only occurs in the 

 south-western counties of the Province, and then in very small numbers, it need 

 not be further considered. 



Golden-winged Woodpecker. Flicker, High Holder, Yellow Hammer, Pigeon 

 Woodpecker, and half a dozen other aliases, testify that this is a well known if 

 not always a popular character. Like the last species, the value of this bird from 

 the fruit-growers' standpoint is debatable, but it is not quite so much given to 

 fruit eating as the Red-head, though when it has seven or eight hungry young 

 ones to feed and it finds a cherry orchard handy, it will help itself to a good 

 many cherries, for which it has a decided predilection. Apart from this unlucky 

 habit the bird has many good qualities. In some of its ways, it much resembles 

 the Meadowlarks ; like them it may often be seen stalking about on the ground 

 searching for ants, of which it destroys vast quantities. I have often found their 

 stomachs filled with them, and have rarely examined one without finding it con- 

 tained some of these insects ; it also devours great numbers of grasshoppers, 

 beetles, moths and other ground insects. This bird is really a ground feeder, for, 

 though classed among the Woodpeckers by reason of certain similarities of struc- 

 ture, it does less woodpecking than any other of its class, the beak not being as 

 well fitted for that operation as the beaks of the others. It has also the peculiarity 

 of being able to perch crosswise on a branch, a method rarely adopted by its rela- 

 tions. There is one other evil trait I have seen this bird exhibit, on two occa- 

 sions only, that is the destruction by it of nests of the Bluebird : both the nests 

 destroyed were built by the Blue-birds in holes in trees much higher than usual, 

 probably from forty to fifty feet from the ground. I am not certain what the 

 nests contained at the time, but I saw the woodpeckers pull out the nests and 

 throw them piecemeal to the ground in spite of the resistance of the Bluebirds, 

 but I found no trace of eggs or young ; if there were any they must have been 

 eaten. It is probable that the woodpeckers wanted the nesting site for them- 

 selves, and so dispossessed the owners. If so they were disappointed, for I settled 

 the question by killing them, but am sorry to say I omitted to examine the 

 stomachs to see whether or not they had devoured the young Bluebirds, if there 

 were any. I am inclined to think these were exceptional cases ; they occurred 

 over twenty years ago and I have never seen a repetition of the trick. If these 

 birds become a nuisance in a garden or orchard, they can easily be killed off while 

 they are comitting their offence, but I think that through the country generally, 

 the good they do far overbalances the little damage they may do locally. 



Yellow-bellied Woodpecker or Sapsucker. Adult male, crown and chin 

 crimson, back and wing coverts black and white, wings black with a large white 

 bar, tail black, inner web of the two central feathers white with black spots, 

 breast black edged with yellowish, the rest of the under parts dull yellowish, the 

 sides white with black streaks. In the female the crimson of the crown and chin 

 is wanting, the crown is black with sometimes a few traces of crimson on the 

 forehead, the chin is white. I give a description of this species in order that it 

 may be distinguished from the other small Woodpeckers, because it is principally 

 owing to the propensity for drinking sap which the bird has, that a certain pre- 

 judice exists in some localities against all the Woodpeckers or Sap suckers as 

 they are called. It is quite true that these Woodpeckers do, in the spring, when 

 the sap is rising, bore small holes in the bark of various trees for the purpose of 



