330 LAND-BIRDS. 



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 res- 

 idents 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 Oc- 

 tober, but I have always found them rare. They are some- 

 what shy, and usually silent. They travel singly or in pairs, 

 and frequent woods rather than orchards. I have seen a pair, 

 however, on a pine tree, so near a house, that they were fired 

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

 the tree, near the spot where the male was at work, if he 

 moved, it was only to return immediately. He escaped ap- 

 parently uninjured and continued for some time to dig out a 

 hole in the trunk, for what purpose I am uncertain, as this 

 was on the 4th of October, and on the following day he dis- 

 appeared. If any of our Woodpeckers are injurious, this spe- 

 cies (including the next variety) is the only one. The Yel- 

 low-bellied Woodpeckers are well known to strip off the bark 

 of various trees, not to obtain insects so often as to feed upon 

 the inner bark. Sometimes, like the Downy Woodpeckers, 

 they bore deep holes, especially in orchard trees, whence they 

 have been called " sap-suckers." f They feed upon berries, and 

 quite often, in common with other members of their family, 

 catch insects in the manner of Flycatchers, by darting at them 

 from a perch. Their tongue is peculiarly constructed, and 

 they cannot obtain an abundance of food in the characteristic 

 manner of their tribe. Though they sometimes visit fallen 

 logs, they do not, however, so far as I know, ever seek it on 

 the ground. They fly in undulations and rarely very far. 



* Sets of six eggs each are common, obtaining their sap, which it drinks 



and I have found seven in one nest. greedily. An exhaustive and very in- 



" B. teresting article on the subject, by Mr. 



t It is now definitely known that Bolles, has been published in the Auk 



the Yellow-bellied Woodpecker bores (Vol. VIII, No. 3, July, 1891, pp. 256- 



small holes in the bark of various spe- 270). W. B. 

 cies of trees for the express purpose of 



