HAIRY WOODPECKER. 243 



ORDER PICI. WOODPECKERS, WRYNECKS, ETC. 

 FAMILY PICID^E. WOODPECKERS. 



GENUS DRYOBATES BOIE. 

 DRYOBATES VILLOSUS (Lixx.). 



171. Hairy Woodpecker. (393) 



Back, black, with a long white stripe ; quills and winy covert*, with a 

 profusion of white spots ; four middle tail feathers, black ; next pair, black and 

 white ; next two pairs, white ; under parts, white ; crown and sides of head, 

 black, with a white stripe over and behind the eye, another from the nasal 

 feathers running below the eye to spread on the side of the neck, and a scarlet 

 nuchal band in the male, wanting in the female ; young, with the crown mostly 

 red or bronzy, or even yellowish. Length, 9-10 ; wing, nearly 5 ; tail, 3^." 



HAB. Middle portion of the Eastern United States, from the Atlantic 

 coast to the Great Plains. 



Nest, in a hole in a tree. 



Eggs, four or five, pure white. 



This is a resident, though not very abundant species, noticed 

 more frequently in winter than in summer. It is generally distrib- 

 uted through Southern Ontario. 



The Hairy Woodpecker is one of the most retiring of the family, 

 spending much of its time in the solitudes of the woods, and when 

 these are thinned out or cleared away, moving to regions still more 

 remote. It is a strong, hardy, active bird, and the noise it makes- 

 while hammering on a tree, when heard in the stillness of the woods, 

 might well be supposed to be produced by a bird of much greater 

 size. 



This is one of those birds which increase in size as they approach 

 their northern limit, and decrease in proportion when found in. 

 the south. On this account the American Ornithologists' Union 

 Committee has separated from the original Dryobates villosus two* 

 subspecies, the first of which, under the name of Northern Hairy 

 Woodpecker, is said to be found in North America, south to about 

 the northern border of the United States. The other has been 

 named the Southern Hairy Woodpecker, and its habitat is said to 

 extend over the southern portion of the United States east of the 

 plains. 



These subdivisions have been decided upon after comparing a 

 large number of specimens from the different regions indicated, but 

 the rule cannot be always correct, for I have some from British 



