Woodpeckers, 



Order, Pici. 

 Family, Picidae. 



Family Characteristics: Sharp, pointed bills for drumming or drill- 

 ing about the trunks and limbs of trees. Red patch on head or throat 

 or both. Alight upon the sides of tree trunks supporting themselves 

 by their tails. They live upon grubs, worms and ants. The sapsucker 

 occasionally injures trees by drilling too many holes into their bark. 



412a. NORTHERN FLICKER. (Golden-winged Woodpecker. 

 Wakie-up. High-hole. Yellow-hammer.) Colaptes auratus luteus. 

 Length 12 inches. Red spot on head. Black crescent on throat. White 

 spot on back near tail. Brownish gray above, barred with black. Black 

 spots on breast. Much yellow on body. Bill slightly curved. Yellow 

 under wings. Black cheek stripes. Tail feathers sharply pointed and 

 used as a support. Nests in holies in rotten trees. Eggs white. Dip- 

 ping motion in flight. 



413. RED-SHAFTED FLICKER. Colaptes cafer collaris. Sim- 

 ilar to northern flicker but has red feathers under wings and tail and 

 red cheek stripes. 



406. RED-HEADED WOODPECKER. (Tricolor.) Melanerpes 

 erythrocephalus. Nine and one-half inches long. Head and neck deep 

 red. Plain black above. Belly, half of wings and rump plain white. 

 The three colors are distinct. Eggs white. Dipping motion in flight. 

 A "striking" bird with an awful voice. 



394c. DOWNY WOODPECKER. Dry abates pubescens. About the 

 size of the English sparrow. Distinctly black and white above in bars 

 or bands. White below. Red feathers on lower part of head. A 

 friendly little fellow and always busy after wood-borers. 



393a. HAIRY WOODPECKER. Dryobates villosus. About nine 

 inches long. Resembles the downy woodpecker except in size. Outer 

 tail fieathers are white. Almost entirely white belly and a white verti- 

 cal line down the back. Like all woodpeckers they build nearer the 

 ground in the west than in the east. 



402. SAPSUCKER. Sphyrapicus varius. Eight and one-half 

 inches long. Body black, white and yellow mingled. Yellow belly. 



