232 GOLDEN-WINGED WOODPECKER. 



scarlet around occiput. Rump and upper tail coverts, white, while the feathers of the latter are marked in lines, edgings, 

 spots, and bars of black. Bill, brown. Feet, bluish. Iris, reddish. 



Adult female. Colored almost exactly like the adult male, excepting that there is no black patch on the cheek and the 

 colors below are perhaps a trifle lighter. 



Adult in autumn. Quite similar to the spring dress but darker, especially above, while there are strong traces of ashy 

 on the throat. 



Nestling male. Retains, to a great extent, the pattern of marking seen in the adult. The black bandings above are 

 much broader. The tail is not barred but is edged on the outer webs with yellowish-white. The under parts are lighter 

 and the spots are not as dark nor is the crescent as long but the cheek patches are large. The top of the head is sprinkled 

 with red and the scarlet crescent is very wide. 



Nestling female. Quite similar to the above described for, strangely enough, the black cheek patches are almost al- 

 ways present. 



OBSERVATIONS. 



There is considerable variation in amount of color and especially in the size of the spots which are larger in some than 

 in others. In regard to the highly colored Red-shafted Flicker, I am convinced that it is identical witli our species for, as 

 we proceed Westward, we find that the two forms grade insensibly into each other. Even in the East, notably in Penn- 

 sylvania, it is not unusual to find specimens showing. red feathers in the black of the cheek patches. Specimens taken in 

 Florida are not only smaller in size but are darker in color than those from New England. Distributed in summer throughout 

 the Eastern Section of the United States. Winters in the Middle and Southern Portions, some remaining as far north as 

 New England. 



DIMENSIONS. 



Average measurements of nineteen specimens from New England. Length, 12-50; stretch, 19'25; wing, 5'93; tail, 

 4-35; bill, 1'25; tarsus, 1-05. Longest specimen, 13-00; greatest extent of wing, 80-00; longest wing, 6'27: tail, 4'70; bill, 

 1-40; tarsus, I'OO. Shortest specimen, 12-00: smallest extent of wing, 18-50; shortest wing, 5'60; tail, 4'05; bill, I'OO: tar- 

 sus, I'OO. 



Average measurements of twenty-four specimens from Florida. Length, 12-37; stretch, 18-75; wing, 5-30; tail, 4*40; 

 bill, T25; tarsus, -97. Longest specimen, 12'75; greatest extent of wing, 19'50; longest wing, fi'OO; tail, 4'85; hill, 1'45; 

 tarsus, 1'15. Shortest specimen, ll'OO; smallest extent of wing, 18-00; shortest wing, 4'60; tail, 3-95; bill, 1'05; tarsus, 

 80. 



DESCRIPTION OF NESTS AND EGGS. 



Nests, placed in cylinder-shaped holes, usu-ally excavated in dead trees. Dimensions, diameter of external orifice, 2'50, 

 greatest internal, 5'00. Internal depth, 18'00. 



Eggs, six to eight in number, elliptical in form, pure, polished pearly-white in color, unspotted. Dimensions from 

 75x'90 to -80x I'OO. A specimen from Florida, collected by Mr. Fred A. Ober, measures '90x T15. The number of eggs 

 deposited in Florida is from four to five. 



HABITS. 



The Golden- winged Woodpeckers have a wide distribution and their well-known notes 

 are to be heard among the palms which border the wide-spread savannas of the extreme 

 southern main-land of Florida, in the trackless piney woods which occupy so much of the 

 country along the Atlantic sea-board, in the fertile valleys of Pennsylvania, and among 

 the pleasant hill-side farms of New England. As they are not only showy birds and con- 

 sequently attract attention, but also make themselves conspicuous by their loud cries, they 

 are noticed by nearly every one and, therefore, receive a quantity of appellations many of 

 which are to be found in the table of local names given at the end of the present volume. 



During the mild days of early spring in Massachusetts, while the snow still lingers in 

 the shadow of woods and on northern exposures, the rapidly given call notes of this spe- 

 cies may be heard coming from the apple orchards. A little later, when the season has 

 become so far advanced as to preclude all possibility of a return of cold weather, these 

 Woodpeckers may be seen together in small companies and then the cry which is probably 





