o42 



NoKTII AMKUICAN lilKDS. 



out imirli tiniilile, the ()tlic*rs had hatclKMl. When the yoim;^ k-ave their 

 nests tliey usnally ket^p toj^ether, and often tour or five may Ix; seen playing 

 ahout tlie Itark nf tlie same tree while waiting tor their parents to hring 

 them tlieir fnod. 



Til is spec'ii's is far more alnindant at the West tlian it is in the New Kng- 

 land States. In the States of Kho«le Island, Conneeticut, and Massachusetts 

 it is very rarely met witli. It is commonly known as the Sap-Sucker, and 

 nnich hi'tter deserves that name than do other species to wliich tins term is 

 also ai>plie<l. Owing to the jiecnliar formation of its tongue and tlie muscles 

 connected with it, it feeds less n-adily ujton insects, and they form a smaller 

 proportion of its food. In tlie spring of the year these hirds j)rey largely 

 upon the inner hark of trees, and where they e.xist in great numhers often do 

 a great deal of mischief. In April, Isr.S, I visited gardens in Ilacine, in com- 

 pany with Dr. Hoy, where these Woodpeckers had every successive sjaing 

 committed tlieir ravages, and was eyewitness to their performance. Their 

 jmnctures were unlike those of the jmhrsrcus, heing much deeper, penetrating 

 the inner bark, .and, heing rejjeated in close i)roximity, becomes entirely 

 stripj)ed off after a while, often resulting in the girdling and CiUiiplete de; 

 struction of the tree. In one garden of some considerable size, all the moun- 

 tain-ash and w]iite-])ine trees had thus l)een killed. In prairie countries, 

 where trees are a deficiency and their cultivation both important and at- 

 tended with difficulty, these birds ]>rove a great pest, ami in a few hours may 

 destroy the labor of many years. These habits, so w^ell known to most of 

 our Western farmers, appear to have entirely escaped the notice of our older 

 ornitholoirists. 



^Ir. Dresser found these birds near San Antonio at all seasons of the year, 

 but rather rare. He shot a couple near the Medina lliver, and Dr. Heer- 

 mann also ]>rocured the eggs in that neiglil)orhood. 



Mr. Ridgway says that in Southern Hlinois this Woodpecker is only a 

 winter resident, coming from the north in Sei)tember or October, and depart- 

 ing in April. It is the only one of the eight species of Wood))eckers of 

 that section which does not breed there, and also the only one which is not 

 resident. 



S})ecimens of its eggs from Vermont measure .95 by .70 of an inch. They 

 are of an oval shape, a little less rounded at one end than at the other. 



Sphyropicus varius, var. nuchalis, Baird. 



THE BED-KAFED WOODPECKER. 



Sphifrojncus varius, var. vuchnlis, Bvinn, Birds X. .\ni. 18.')S, 103, pi. xxxv, figs. 1, 2. Sphy- 

 rnpicus )n(('h(i7is. Rvini), lb. 921. — Coue-s Pr. A. X. So. 1866, 53. — Coornu, Pr. Cal. 

 Ac. 1861, 122. —Cass. P. A. X. S. 1863, 204. — Cooper, Orn. Cal. I, 1870, 390. 

 Picvs varius occidental is, SrxDEVALL, Consp. Pic. 1866, 34. Cliidoscopus nitcJuilis, 

 Cab. & Hein. 82. 



