BIRDS OF NEW YORK 1 57 



Centurus carolinus (Linnaeus) 

 Red-bellied Woodpecker 



Plate 64 



Picus carolinus Linnaeus. Syst. Nat. Ed. 10. 1758. 1:113 



DeKay. Zool. of N. Y. 1844. pt 2, p. 189, fig. 37 

 Centurus carolinus A. O. U. Check List. Ed. 3. 1910. p. 193. No. 409 



centurus, Gr., xlvTpov, prickle or spine, and <5up<4, tail, referring to the bristly tail 

 feathers, which, as Doctor Coues has remarked, are not sharper than those of other 

 woodpeckers 



Description. About the size of the Red-headed woodpecker. Upper 

 part regularly barred with black and white; top of head and neck bright 

 scarlet in the male; in the female, only the occiput is red, the crown being 

 ashy gray. Under parts dull grayish white, more or less tinged, espe- 

 cially on the center of the belly, with red ; tuft of bristles at the base of the 

 bill also reddish. 



Length 9.3-10.5 inches; extent 17-18; wing 4.8-5.5; tail 3.5-4; bill 

 1-1.2. 



Distribution. This species inhabits the austral zone of eastern North 

 America from Delaware, western New York and southern Minnesota 

 southward to the gulf coast. In New York State it evidently was common 

 on Long Island and in the lower Hudson valley fifty years ago, but now 

 has entirely deserted that region. There are only one or two records 

 for Long Island and the Hudson valley during the last 30 years. In western 

 New York there are numerous records, mostly during the fall and winter, 

 for all the counties from Oneida, Madison and Cortland, westward to 

 Erie and Chautauqua, the species being commoner farther west in the 

 State. It seems to be more abundant in the wintertime, a curious fact, 

 considering that it is an austral species. I have seen numerous specimens 

 in the taxidermists' shops of Rochester, Buffalo and Niagara Falls which 

 were taken in winter. It is not entirely a straggler, however, for there 

 are several breeding records for the western part of the State, especially 

 at Springville in June 1895; near Buffalo in 1898 and in Yates county 

 1910-1912. I have also seen it in the vicinity of Geneva during the breed- 

 ing season and Miss Agnes Paul of East Bloomfield reports it as a per- 



