

Spotted and Hairy Woodpeckers 595 



Pied Woodpeckers. We have now come to the largest and most widely 

 distributed genus (Dryobates) embracing the so-called Pied Woodpeckers, of 

 which our Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers may be taken as representative 

 examples. They are small or medium-sized birds, which are black or brown 

 above, more or less spotted or varied with white, and whitish below; in the adult 

 male there is considerable red on the head, but this is lacking in the female. 

 About twenty of the fifty-five or more forms now recognized are found in the 

 New World, principally the United States, while the remainder are widely spread 

 over the Palsearctic and Indian regions. In North America, where the genus 

 has been very thoroughly studied, it has been found that most of the species 

 are divided up into a number of fairly well marked geographical races, and it 

 seems probable that when the Old World forms are investigated as carefully, 

 it will appear that similar conditions prevail. 



Great Spotted Woodpecker. This genus is capable of division into three well- 

 marked sections based on the coloration of the back and rump, these areas in 

 the first group being a uniform black or brown without any white. To this 

 belongs the Great Spotted Woodpecker (D. major) of Europe and Asia Minor, 

 whence it ranges through southern Siberia to Amur and Korea. It is a hand- 

 some and quite conspicuous bird, a rich blue-black above, with a crimson patch 

 on the back of the head and a white spot on the sides of the neck, while the scapu- 

 lars, lesser wing-coverts, and lower parts are white, becoming crimson on the 

 lower abdomen and under tail-coverts; the female is without the crimson on the 

 head; the length is nine arid a half inches. It is a shy, rather solitary bird, 

 keeping much to the tops of the trees and not often seen unless especially searched 

 for. It frequents parks, woodlands, and forests, and is not at all a noisy species, 

 almost its only note being a sharp tick or tschick, while in spring it produces a 

 loud drumming or rattling sound by rapid hammering on the limbs or trunks of 

 dead trees, a noise that is audible for a considerable distance. It feeds largely 

 on insects, but is also considerable of a vegetarian, taking in season various fruits, 

 nuts, and seeds. The eggs are six or seven in number. To the eastward are 

 spread a number of closely related species, which careful study may show to be 

 only geographical races. 



Hairy Woodpeckers. To the second group of species, in which the back 

 is striped or marked longitudinally with white, belongs the well-known Hairy 

 Woodpecker of North America. The typical form (D. villosus), which inhabits 

 the eastern United States, with the exception of the South Atlantic and Gulf 

 States, is a bird eight and a half or nine inches in length, black above with a 

 scarlet band on the nape, a broad white band down the middle of the back, and 

 a white stripe above and below the eye, the under parts being white and the 

 wings conspicuously white-spotted; the female is without the crimson nape. 

 This is a bird of hardy nature, usually a constant resident where found, and no 

 matter how intense the cold, it seems to find plenty to eat. It is of rather solitary 

 disposition, its favorite haunts being woodlands, river bottoms, and forests, oc- 

 casionally orchards and more open country. There is nothing especially remark- 

 able about its habits of feeding or nidification. Of the geographical races there 



