BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 



173 



Melanerpes carolinus (LiNN.)- 



Red-bellied Woodpecker. 



DESCRIPTION (Plate 76). 



Top of head and nape crimson red ; forehead whitish, strongly tinged with light 

 red, a shade of which is also seen on the cheek ; still stronger on the middle of the 

 belly. Under parts brownish white, with a faint wash of yellowish on the belly ; 

 back, rump and wiag-co verts banded black and white ; upper tail-coverts white, 

 with occasional blotches; tail feathers black ; first transversely banded with white ; 

 second less so; all the rest with whitish tips: inner feathers banded with white on 

 the inner web ; the outer web with a stripe of white along the middle ; iris red. 



Female with the crown ashy ; forehead pale red : 7iape bright red. 



Length 9$ inches ; extent about 17 ; wing about 5 inches. 



Habitat. Eastern United States to the Rocky mountains ; rare or accidental east 

 of the Hudson river. 



Audubon found nests of Red-bellied Woodpeckers in orchards in Penn- 

 sylvania. The Messrs. Baird, writing- in 1844, mention this species as 

 occurring- in the vicinity of Carlisle, Cumberland county, in reference to 

 it they say: "Abundant; most so in winter ; resident." 



Dr. Ezra Michener, in his Chester county list of 1863, records this bird 

 as a "resident, frequent; rare in summer." Dr. Turnbull, in his Birds 

 of Eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey, 1869, says, "common, but 

 more frequent in summer: found mostly on the larg-er trees of the 

 forest." Mr. Gentry, Avriting in 1877 (Life Histories of Birds}, observes 

 that he has found a few of these birds in eastern Pennsylvania from No- 

 vember until the latter part of April. According- to my observation, 

 the Red-bellied Woodpecker occurs in southeastern Pennsylvania only 

 MS a rare winter visitant. The few birds observed by myself in this 

 locality were exceedingly shy, and when found were seen in tall trees in 

 the forests. Mr. T. L. Neff, of Carlisle, has never observed it in Cum- 

 berland county, at least his report of the species found there contains 

 no mention of it. The only locality in Pennsylvania where the Red- 

 bellied Woodpecker has been found breeding- during- recent years is, so 

 far as I can learn, in the county of Washington, along- our western bor- 

 der. I am indebted to Mr. W. T. Warrick, of Washing-ton, Pa., for the 

 following- interesting facts concerning- the species in his locality : " This 

 bird is not rare here, although not very abundant, and it is resident and 



