128 PICI: Woodpeckers 



RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKER 



(403. Sphyrapicus ruber ruber) 8 in. 



Head, neck and breast dull red, except white stripe from 

 nostril to cheek; back and wings black, streaked and spotted 

 with white (buffy-edged in winter) ; belly yellowish. 



Call note, "churr-r," seldom heard. In mating-season it 

 utters an almost unbirdlike squall. 



Girdles favored trees with holes that are sometimes worked 

 out until remaining bark is only a network; feeds upon the sap 

 and insects attracted thereby. 



RED-NAPED SAPSUCKER 



(402a. Sphyrapicus varius nuchalis) 8$ in. 



Throat, crown, and nape bright red, a black patch on chest (dis- 

 tinguishes from Red-breasted Sapsucker) ; back and wings black, 

 heavily white-marked. Female duller; breast-patch gray- 

 mixed, throat less red. 



In shape, habit, and action like the Red-breasted species. 

 Has the tree-drilling habit of all Sapsuckers, but it is too few 

 in numbers to do material injury. 



WILLIAMSON SAPSUCKER 



(404. Sphyrapicus thyroideus) 9 in. 



Male: Black, with narrow white stripes on side of head, large 

 white wing-patches, bright yellow belly, and small, bright red 

 splash on throat. 



Female: Light brown head; back, wings, and breast barred 

 dusky and gray; belly yellow; breast generally with black patch. 



Very silent birds that appear from nowhere, inspect the 

 intruder, sidle around the tree-trunk, and are gone without a 

 sound. Sometimes seen darting out from a dead tree-top, 

 apparently catching insects. 



