WOODPECKERS 329 



choice for certain localities, and may be wanting over wide stretches 

 of intervening territory. 



They are noisy, active birds, and their loud, rolling, tree-toadlike 

 call, ker-r-ruck, ker-r-ruck, and bright colors combine to render them 

 conspicuous. When on the wing the white secondaries of both adult 

 and immature birds make a striking field mark. 



409. Centurus carolinus (Linn.). RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER. Ad. 

 cf. Whole top of head and back of the neck bright scarlet; back regularly 

 barred with black and white; primaries black at the end, white, irregularly 

 barred with black, at the base; secondaries black, regularly spotted and 

 barred with white; upper tail-coverts white, with streaks or arrowheads of 

 black; outer tail-feathers and inner vanes of the middle ones irregularly 

 marked with broken black and white bars; cheeks and underparts dull ashy 

 white, the region about the base of the bill, the middle of the belly, and some- 

 times the breast, more or less tinged with red. Ad. 9. Similar, but with the 

 crown grayish ashy, the scarlet confined to the nape and nostrils. Im. Simi- 

 lar, but with the belly sometimes tinged with buffy instead of red. - L., 9'50; 

 W., 5*00; T., 3-40; B., I'lO. 



Range. Upper and Lower Austral zones of e. U. S. from se. S. D., se. 

 Minn., sw. Ont., w. N. Y., sw. Pa., and Del., s. to cen. Tex., and the Gulf 

 coast; casual n. to Colo., and Mass. 



Washington, locally common P. R. Cambridge, A. V., one record. 

 N. Ohio, tolerably common P. R. SE. Minn., uncommon P. R. 



Nest, in dead or living trees, from 20 feet up. Eggs, 46, white, 1'05 x 

 75. Date, Charleston, S. C., last of April; Black Hawk Co., Iowa, May 5; 

 se. Minn., May 28. 



This is a common bird in our Southern States. It inhabits alike 

 coniferous and deciduous growths, but prefers the latter. It ascends 

 a tree in a curious, jerky fashion, accompanying each upward move 

 by a hoarse chuh-chuh. It also utters a k-r-r-r-ring roll and, when 

 matings a whicker call like that of the Flicker. 



412. Golaptes auratus auratus (Linn.). FLICKER. Smaller, darker, 

 black dorsal bars wider than in the following form. W., 5*70; T., 3'60; B., 

 1-35 (cf. Bangs, Auk, XV. 1898, 177). 



Range. Austroriparian fauna from N. C., and s. Ills, to s. Fla., and 

 cen. Tex. 



Nesting date, San Mateo, Fla., Apl. 10. 



412a. C. a. luteus Bangs. NORTHERN FLICKER. Ad. <?. Top of 



the head ashy gray, a bright scarlet band across the back of the neck; 

 back, wing-coverts, and exposed part of secondaries brownish gray, barred 

 with black; rump white; primaries black externally, the inner surface of 

 the wing and the shafts of the feathers yellow; upper tail-coverts barred or 

 streaked with black and white; tail black above, yellow tipped with black 

 below, the outer edges of the feathers slightly margined or barred with white ; 

 sides of the head, throat, and upper breast vinaceous; a broad black stripe 

 on each side of the throat from the base of the bill, and a broad black 

 crescent across the breast; rest of the underparts white, more or less tinged 

 with vinaceous, and thickly spotted with black. Ad. 9 . Similar, but with- 

 out the black streaks on the side of the throat. L., 12'00; W., 6'00; T., 4*00; 

 B., 1-40. 



Remarks. Exceptional specimens have a Tew red feathers in the throat 

 stripes. A male from Louisiana has this mark entirely red and the head gray- 

 ish brown, while another specimen from Toronto has half the tail orange-red. 



