314 FIELD ZOOLOGY. 



car and Australia. They are surely very widely distrib- 

 uted in the United States; they are usually colored so 

 that they are easily recognized, and, with the possible ex- 

 ception of the yellow-bellied sapsucker, should be care- 

 fully protected. Much has been said previously of the 



FIG. no. Belted Kingfisher (Galloway.} Photographed by J. W. Folsom. 



beneficial food habits of the numerous tribe of woodpeckers ; 

 but too much cannot be said to impress their good qualities 

 on the mind of the general public. The downy and the 

 hairy woodpecker, even in our northern latitudes, stay 

 with us all winter, and work the year round, hunting 

 borers when the trees are not frozen; and joining the 

 nuthatches in their search for insect eggs in bark crevices 

 and out-of-the-way places, in the coldest weather. 



