542 N'oin'II AMKUIC'A.V JilKDS. 



out imidi tnmlilo, tlio otliors Imd hiitcluMl. Wlion tlio yomij,' Uiiivo their 

 iiostH tlioy usiiiilly kciop l()j,'t!lliL'r, iiiiil ot'tiiii I'oiir or livo niiiy be hcoii idiiyiiij,' 

 iilioiit tlie liiirk III" the same tree wliile waiting for their parents to hriiig 

 theui tlieir food. 



Til is speeies is far more ahmidant at tlie West than it is in the New Eng- 

 land States. In tlie States of IMiode Island, Conneetieut, and Massaehusetts 

 it is very rarely met witli. It is commonly known as the Sap-Sucker, and 

 much better deserves that name than do other species to wliicli this term la 

 also applied. Owing to the peculiar formation of its tongue and the nuiscles 

 connected witii it, it feeds less readily ujion insects, and tiiey form a smaller 

 l)roportion of its food. In the spring of tlut year these liirds ])rey largely 

 upon the inner bark of trees, and where they e.vist in great numbers often do 

 a great deal of mischief In April, IHCtH, I visited gardens in Ifacine, in com- 

 pany with Dr. Hoy, where these Woodpeckers had every successive s])ring 

 committed their mvages, and was eyewitness to their i)erformance. Their 

 jjunctures were unlike those of the piihi-Hrcna, being miudi deeper, penetrating 

 the inner bark, and, being repeated in close i)roximity, becomes entirely 

 stripped off alter a wiiile, often n-sulting in the girdling and comjilete de; 

 struction of the tree. In one garden of some considerable size, all the moun- 

 tain-ash and white-jiine trees had thus been killed. In prairie countries, 

 where trees are a deficiency and their cultivation l)oth important and at- 

 tended with difticulty, these birds jtrove a great pest, and in a few hours may 

 destroy the labor of many years. These habits, .so well known to most of 

 our Western farmers, api)ear to have entirely escaped the notice of our older 

 ornithologists. 



j\Ir. Dresser found these birds near San Antonio at all .seasons ol' the year, 

 but rather rare. He shot a couj)le near tlie Medina liiver, and Dr. Heer- 

 niann also jn-ocured the eggs in that neighliorhood. 



Mr. Ilidgway says that in Southern Illinois this Woodpecker is only a 

 winter resident, coming I'rom tlie north in September or October, and dejiart- 

 ing in A]iril. It is the oidy one of the eight s|)ecies of Woodpeckers of 

 that section which does not lireed there, and also the only one which is not 

 resident. 



Sjjecimens of its eggs from Vermont measure .95 by .70 of an inch. TJiey 

 are of an oval shape, a little less rounded at one end than at the other. 



Sphsrropicus varius, var. nuchalis, Baird. 



THE BED-NAFED WOODFECKEB. 



Sphyropinis variit.i, var. iiuc}inli/i, Baihd, Birds N. Am. 1858, 103, pi. x.\xv, li<,'s. 1, 2. Sphij- 

 rnpkus nui-haUs, Baikii, lb. 921. — CoiiKS, Pr. A. N. So. 1866, 53. — Cooi'Ki!, I'r. Cal. 

 Ac. 1861, 122. — CA.S.S. P. A. N. S. 1803, 204. — Codi-eii, Orn. (\x\. I, 1870, 390. 

 Picus vnrius occUkntaUs, SuxDEVAl.L, Consp. Pic. 1866, 34. Claduscopus nuchiUs, 

 Cab. & Hein. 82. 



