194 BIRDS OF NORTH CAROLINA 



Genus Melanerpes (Swains.) 

 179. Melanerpes erythrocephalus (Linn.}. RED-HEADED WOODPECKER. 



Description. Whole head and neck red in adult; belly, rump, and secondaries white; rest of 

 plumage glossy black. Young with the red and black replaced by brownish gray, and secondaries 

 barred with black. L., 9.50; W., 5.50; T., 3.25. 



Range. United States, east of the Rocky Mountains. 



Range in North Carolina. Whole State at all seasons. 



FIG. 152. RED-HEADED WOODPECKER. 



The Red-headed Woodpecker is a common bird in North Carolina, its abundance 

 seeming to depend, however, on local conditions. In Wake County, for instance, 

 it appears to be quite common in the city of Raleigh, wherever there are groves of 

 oak trees, as acorns furnish a considerable part of its food. It also feeds on insects, 

 which it digs from rotten wood or catches on the wing. Corn in the silk, and 

 various kinds of fruit, are also eaten. Bendire, in Life Histories of North Amer- 

 ican Birds, says that it eats both the eggs and young of small birds, and quotes 

 many instances in support of this statement. 



Its nesting habits are those common to the members of the family, the hole being 

 dug in a dead tree or limb, or even in a telegraph or telephone pole or flag-pole. A 

 pair made their nest in the ball on the top of the flagstaff on the State Capitol 

 some years ago. 



Genus Centurus (Swains.) 



180. Centurus carolinus (Linn.). RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER. 



Description: Ad. d*. 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 irregu- 

 larly marked with broken black arid white bars; cheeks and underparts dull ashy white, the region 

 about the base of the bill, the middle of the belly, and sometimes 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. Similar, but with the belly sometimes tinged with buffy instead c.f red. 

 L., 9.50; W., 5.00; T., 3.40; B., 1.10. (Chap., Birds of E. N. A.) 



Range. United States, east of Rocky Mountains. 



Range in North Carolina. Whole State at all seasons, but local. 



