RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER. 227 



coverts, white streaked with black. Outer web of outer, tips, terminal portion of next pair, and inner webs of central pair, 

 also burred with white and all, but the central pair, are tipped with yellowish-white. Top of head, occiput, and nape, 

 scarlet-vermilion, lighter on the forehead, und extending down on the sides of the lower neck, while the feathers of the 

 upper back arc sometimes tinged with it. Sides of head and under parts, including under tail coverts, light-slaty over- 

 w:ished with yellowish and tinged on the sides of the bead, chin,- along the lower breast, and on the abdomen with scarlet 

 which H brightest on the latter named portions. The foathers of the under tail coverts have a central stripe of black. 

 Under wing coverts, white, barred with dusky. Bill, black. Feet, greenish-brown. 



Adult female. Very similar to the male, but the top of the head is slaty like the under parts, while the occiput and 

 nape are scarlet-vermilion and the forehead is tinged with it. Usually the red tinging below Ls not as conspicuous and 

 there is rather more white on the tail. The flanks are marked with arrow-shaped spots of dusky. 



Yuttny iiialr. Similar to the adult but quite brown on the wings and lower back. There is very little, or no, white 

 tinging below but the yellowish overwashing is quite strong and the tipping of the tail is nearly orange. The flanks are 

 considerably sjxitted. 



Young female. Not strikingly unlike the adult, but brown above as in the young male and shows but little tinging 

 below, and even the yellowish overwashing is scarcely perceptible. 



Nestlings. Birds in this plumage retain the pattern of the marking of the next stage, but they are quite yellow below 

 and streaked in a band across the back with dusky. The scarlet of the top of the head is not as bright. 



OBSERVATIONS. 



Specimens vary considerably in amount of red below; the highest plumaged male that I have selected out of a large 

 series, is tinged with this color over the entire under parts, excepting on the throat. The primaries are usually edged with 

 white, especially in the younger stages. Readily known from all others by the description as given. 



Besides t ho<c i^iven, the following specific characters may be added: there are no laryngeal muscles, excepting the sterno- 

 traehealis which is stout. The tympaniform membrane is present and although there is an os transversale, yet it does not 

 support a semiluimr membrane. The oesophagus is without dilatation and opens into a small proventriculus which meas- 

 ures about "25 in external diameter. The gastric glands are simple and placed in a zonular band which measures '40 in 

 width. The stomach is rather globular in form with thin walls that measure '18 in thickness, and the lining membrane is 

 soft. The fold of the duodenum is not long and incloses a wide, though short, pancreas which has only one lobe but this is 

 dh ided by several incisions which are of varying depth. The spleen Is a spherical body lying partly on the proventriculus. 

 The left lobe of the liver Ls only about one half as large as the right. A noticeable character may be seen in the peculiar, 

 lateral extension of the greater pectoral muscles which protrude very much beyond the costal border of the sternum, (see 

 plate XVII). 



This species is distributed throughout the Eastern Section of the United States, from Key West to Connecticut, but is 

 not common north of Pennsylvania. They are constantly resident in the Carolinas and south of them, but are migratory 

 further north. 



DDIENSIONS. 



Average measurements of eighteen specimens from Eastern North America. Length, 9'67; stretch, lfi'12; wing, 4'65; 

 ,.il, 3'37; bill, I'lO: tarsus, '87. Longest specimen, 10'BO; greatest extent of wing, 17'25; longest wing, 5'30; tail, 3-75; bill, 

 20; tarsus, 1-00. Shortest specimen, 8'75; smallest extent of wing, 15'00; shortest wing, 4'00; tail,3'00; bill, I'OO; tarsus, 



TK 



tail 

 124 

 75. 



DESCRIPTION OF NESTS AND EGGS. 



Nests, placed in gourd-shaped holes, usually excavated in living trees. Dimensions, diameter of external orifice, 2'00, 

 greatest internal, 5*4)0. Internal depth, 14'00. 



Eyys, four or five in number, elliptical in form, pure, polished pearly-white in color, unspotted. Dimensions from 

 1-04 x '80 to "J5x-75. 



HABITS. 



The first time that I ever met with a living specimen of this fine Woodpecker, was at 

 Jacksonville on the thirty-first of December, 1868, the same morning that I had the ex- 

 perience with the Bridge Pewee which I have related; in fact, the next shot that I fired 

 after killing one of those Flycatchers, brought down a male of the birds which we have 

 undi.-r consideration. Thus in examining the lovely plumage of the Woodpecker, I speed- 

 ily forgot the slight disappointment which I had felt for, as I have intimated, it was the 



