188 BIRDS OF NORTH CAROLINA 



The Kingfisher is a somewhat common bird wherever open water is found. In 

 the mountains it appears to be only a summer visitor, arriving in late March or 

 early April, transients at that season being known also at Raleigh and Statesville. 



As its name implies, it is an ardent lover of fish, in the pursuit of which it plunges 

 headlong into the water. Frequently after such a plunge the bird may be seen 

 sitting on a post hammering its fish against the wood as if to kill, or tear it to 

 pieces. The prey is always carried in the bill. 



Kingfishers dig long burrows in the perpendicular banks of streams or ponds, 

 the holes ending in an enlarged chamber in which the eggs are laid. These are 

 pure white in color, and are usually six or seven in number. Size about 1.35 x 1.05. 

 Two sets of eggs taken in Bertie County by Dr. Smithwick were collected respec- 

 tively on May 7, 1896, and May 13, 1897. A nest containing four decayed eggs was 

 found by Pearson in a railroad cut in Gates County on July 5, 1892. It nests not 

 uncommonly all through the eastern part of the State. 



XIV. ORDER PICI. WOODPECKERS, ETC. 



37. FAMILY PICID>E. WOODPECKERS 



This family includes small, medium, or rather large birds, with stiffened and 

 pointed tail-feathers, strong chisel-shaped bills, and the toes of all North Carolina 

 species extend two in front and two behind. 



KEY TO GENERA 



1. Head crested; size large, wing 7.00 or more. See 2. 



1. Head not crested; smaller, wing less than 7.00. See 3. 



2. Outer hind toe longer than outer front toe; bill pale. Campephilus. 



2. Outer hind toe not longer than front toe, bill dark. Phlceotomus. 



3. Outer hind toe longer than outer front toe. See 4. 



3. Outer hind toe not longer than outer front toe. See 5. 



4. Nasal groove extending nearly to tip of bill; tongue greatly extensile. Dryobates. 



4. Nasal groove running out on cutting edge of upper mandible, about halfway to tip; tongue 



scarcely extensile. Sphyrapicus. 



5. Under surface of wing-quills and tail-feathers chiefly yellow or reddish, the shafts brighter 



yellow or red. Colaptes. 



5. Under surface of wing- and tail-quills not yellow or red. See 6. 



6. Back, scapulars, and wings barred with white. Centurus. 

 6. Back, scapulars, and wing-coverts plain. Melanerpes. 



* The Ivory-billed Woodpecker, Campephilus prindpalis (Linn.}, has not been positively recorded 

 from the State since Alexander Wilson, the father of American ornithology, took a specimen 

 near Wilmington in the early thirties of the nineteenth century (see Introduction). Reports 

 of the bird's occurrence are not infrequent, but they may be relied upon to refer invariably to 

 the Pileated Woodpecker. Coues and Yarrow recorded it doubtfully from Fort Macon in 1876, 

 on the strength of a reported specimen which they had not seen. It is the largest woodpecker 

 occurring in the United States, attaining a length of twenty-one inches and possessing a powerful, 

 long white bill. 



Genus Dryobates (Boie) 



This genus includes a number of small and medium-sized woodpeckers, the 

 North Carolina species of which are wholly black-and-white in color, except for 

 slight red markings on the head in males or young birds. The underparts are 

 white or whitish, the wings black with numerous white spots, the tail black with 

 some of the outer feathers more or less white. 



