OF NEW ENGLAND. 317 



that of a species of tree-frog which frequents the same tree, 

 that it is sometimes difficult to distinguish the one from the 

 other." 



Wilson eloquently defends this bird, proving his beneficial 

 nature. He adds: "The Red-headed Woodpecker is, properly 

 speaking, a bird of passage ; tho even in the eastern states 

 individuals are found during moderate winters, as well as in 

 the states of New York and Pennsylvania ; in Carolina they 

 are somewhat more numerous during that season ; but not one 

 tenth of what are found in summer. They make their appear- 

 ance in Pennsylvania about the first of May ; and leave us 

 about the middle of October." 



III. SPHYRAPICUS 



(A) VARIUS. Yellow-bellied Woodpecker. 11 



(In Massachusetts, chiefly a migrant.) 



(a). About 8 inches long. Wings and tail, black and 

 white. Above, brownish or yellowish, marked with black. Be- 

 neath, yellowish ; sides black-streaked. Crown-patch, scarlet ; 

 throat-patch, scarlet, or in 9 whitish. Border of both patches, 

 and eye-stripe, black. Head otherwise white or yellowish. 



(6). The nest is to be found in woods or sometimes or- 

 chards. The eggs of each set are four or five, and average 

 about -95 X '80 of an inch. See I, A, b. 



(c). The Yellow-bellied Woodpeckers probably occur in 

 Eastern Massachusetts as migrants only, though summer-resi- 

 dents to the westward ("beyond Springfield "), and to the 

 northward, as in Canada, or the northernmost parts of New 

 England, where they are quite common. Near Boston, I have 

 seen them about the middle of April, and again in October,, 

 but I have always found them rare. They are somewhat shy, 

 and usually silent. They travel singly or in pairs, and fre- 

 quent woods rather than orchards. I have seen a pair, how- 

 ever, on a pine-tree, so near a house, that they were fired at 

 with a parlor-rifle from the windows. As each bullet struck 



11 A Mexican species, Centurua aurifrons, bears the same name. 



