RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER. 125 



Pileated Woodpecker; Cock-of-the- Woods: Ceoph- 

 loeus pileatus. 



Length 17 inches. 



General color dull black. 



Head and pointed crest scarlet; male with a scarlet line 

 from base of bill back to neck. 



Some yellowish-white marks about the head and on the 

 wings, the latter shown conspicuously in flight. 



A rare permanent resident. 



The Pileated is much the largest of our Wood- 

 peckers, and is so rare here that the sight of him is 

 an event even in an ornithologist's calendar. It is 

 said he was once common all over this country, but 

 he is by nature wild and wary, keeping to heavy 

 timber, and with the advance of civilization has with- 

 drawn to the most secluded localities, until now but 

 few places can boast his presence. He is still occa- 

 sionally seen near Falls Church. 



Look for him in the tops of the largest trees, and 

 listen for the hammering of a giant, so loud that the 

 tapping of an ordinary Woodpecker seems but an 

 echo in comparison. The hole of the Pileated will 

 be from 30 to 80 feet above the ground. 



Red-bellied Woodpecker: Melanerpes carolinus. 



Length 10 inches. 



Top of head and back of neck light scarlet; back, wings 

 and tail regularly barred with black ?.nd white. 



Under parts dull white, the belly more or less tinged with 

 red. 



Female with top of head ashy-gray. 



A rare permanent resident. 



The Red-bellied is a southern bird, and this is 

 about the northern limit of his range. Perhaps the 

 only place in the District where he may be looked for 



