34 YELLOW-BELLIED WOODPECKER. 



tril; in birds of the first and second year, they reach only to the 

 crown; bill an inch long, channelled, wedge-formed at the tip, 

 and of a dusky horn colour. The female is marked nearly as 

 the male, but wants the scarlet on the throat, which is whitish; 

 she is also darker under the wings, and on the sides of the breast. 

 The young of the first season, of both sexes, in October, have 

 the crown sprinkled with black and deep scarlet; the scarlet on 

 the throat may be also observed in the young males. The prin- 

 cipal food of these birds is insects; and they seem particularly 

 fond of frequenting orchards, boring the trunks of the apple- trees, 

 in their eager search after them. On opening them, the liver 

 appears very large, and of a dirty gamboge colour; the stomach 

 strongly muscular, and generally filled with fragments of bee- 

 tles and gravel. In the morning they are extremely active in 

 the orchards, and rather shyer than the rest of their associates. 

 Their cry is also different, but though it is easily distinguisha- 

 ble in the woods, cannot be described by words. 



