228 CENTURUS CAROL1NUS. 



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first time that I had ever held a Red-bellied Woodpecker in my hand and, as I admired 

 its brilliant coloring, I thought that it was the most beautiful bird that I had ever shot. 

 Like most ornithologists, however, I have since changed my opinion in regard to this very 

 often and I presume that I shall again many times behold in some rara avis what, for ti 

 season, will be the loveliest yet seen. I believe that all species, no matter how perfect, 

 loose their charms to the collector after he has shot a dozen or so; this, at least, has been 

 my experience and I do not think that I am any more fickle in this respect than others. 

 Yet after all, I cannot help considering the Red-bellied Woodpeckers, fine birds, even if 

 they have had their day with me and, having got beyond the inclination to kill every one 

 that I see, am never tired of watching their movements. 



I found the Red-bellied Woodpeckers quite abundant in winter in the piney woods 

 which border the plantations on the Sea Islands of the Carolinas but as I proceeded south, 

 their numbers increased and in Florida, they fairly swarmed, actually occurring in flocks. 

 They accompany the Cockaded Woodpeckers in the piny woods and also associate with the 

 Yellow-bellies in the swamps and hummocks; in fact, it is difficult to remain long in any 

 portion of Florida where there are trees, without hearing the discordant croak of these 

 Woodpeckers and I even found them on the Keys. At the time of my visit, Key West 

 had been nearly denuded of woods for, although there was an abundance of shrubbery, there 

 was not a tree over twenty feet high growing on the uncultivated section of the island. 

 The key was nearly divided into two parts by salt ponds and north of these, the country 

 was particularly barren as there was but a scanty allowance of soil. In fact, the under- 

 lining strata of limestone was exposed in many places, yet a slight depfch of alluvium had 

 been deposited in certain hollows and in them, a few stunted palmetto trees had managed 

 to take root. Passing these one day, I heard a familiar note and glancing in the direction 

 from which it came, saw a Red-bellied Woodpecker clinging to the trunk of one of the 

 dwarfed palms and not far away, I found his mate. Curious to ascertain whether they 

 were local inhabitants or only visitors to this desolate spot, I searched among the low trees 

 for signs of a nest and soon discovered some holes drilled in the fibrous trunks of the pal- 

 mettos one of which was evidently the nest of the pair that I had just transferred to my 

 collecting basket. As this was in November, they were not, of course, breeding but only 

 keeping watch over their domicile, least it should be occupied by others. 



Further north, on the heavily wooded keys, I found that these Woodpeckers occurred 

 but were not common until I arrived at Miami. Hear they inhabited the piney woods 

 almost exclusively and built their nests about the first of April, excavating the cavities for 

 them in living pine trees. As the breeding season approached, they were, like the Yel- 

 low bellies, quite playful, sporting about the trunks or high limbs of the pine trees, then 

 launching outward, would pursue one another rapidly through the air, for like many other 

 members of this family, these Woodpeckers, although they move in a heavy, undulating 

 manner while on the wing, fly very swiftly. The notes, throughout the breeding season, 

 are not especially different from these given during the winter. Although not unlike those 

 uttered by the Yellow-bellies, they differ enough to be readily distinguished, being louder 

 and perhaps harsher. 



