232 



WOODPECKERS. 



then it will fly from u detached tree of a field to a considerable dis- 

 tance before it alights, emitting at every glide a loud, shrill note" 

 (Audubon). 



401. Picoides americanus Ih-ilnn. Amkimcan Thimck-tokd Wood- 



TKCKKu. All. i . — 'i'lics ihi'ce, two ill I'riiiit; licacl sjiottcd witli wliitc and witli 

 an oraiif^e-yellow patch on tlic erown ; hark barred with black and white; 

 wuiijf-tbutlierH spotted with hhiL'k and white; iiiiddlo tail-tVatluTsi lilaek, 

 outer ones htaek andwliite; refjion below the eye mixed black and wliite; 

 ^ide.s more or less barred with l)iaek ami white; r<'st of tiu^ hikIit i)arts 

 while. ,/(/. 9. — Similar, but erown sj)otted with black and wiiite, and with- 

 out yellow. L., ,S'7f) ; W., 4-55 ; T., S-IO ; H. from N., -n:). 



Rnn(je. — Northern North America, soutli to tlic northern I'nitcd States. 



AVa'<, in the lower part <jf a tree. Ayy-S white, •'••-.^ x -To (Merriam, lUdl. 

 Nutt. Urn. Club., iii, lb.7S, p. 2(»0j. 



"It is said to greatly resendde P. villotms in habits, except that it 

 seeks its food principally upon decaying trees of the pine tribe, in 

 which it frecpieidly makes holes large enough to bury itself. It is 

 not migratory" (H., IJ., and R.). 



402. Sphyrapicus varius i /.inn:). Yki.i.dw-uklliko Sai'sicker. 

 All. 6 . — Crown deep f^carlet, iiack irretcularly barretl with l)lack and yellow- 

 ish white; wiiiif-t'eatliers si)otted with white, their coverts mastlij ir/iiti ; 

 tail black, tlic middle leathers with broken black bars, the outer ones with 

 white maririiis ; a wliite line tVoni the bill passes below the eye; throat car- 

 dinal; breast black; sides streaked with bhk'k ; belly jialc yellow. Ad. 9. — 

 Similar, but throat white; erown sometimes bhick ; outer tail-feathers with 

 broken white bar.s. /in. — Similar to ads., luit with the crown dull blackish, 

 the breast brownish t^niy barred with black, the throat whitish. L., .S-,")(i; 

 \V., 4-87 ; T., 3-JO ; H., !i2.' 



Ean<je. — Eastern Xorth .Vmerica; breeds from .Nbissachusetts northward, 

 and winters from \'iiyinia to Central America. 



Washinj;ton, common T. V., NK-h. and .\pl. ; Oct., occasional in winter. 

 Sinj,' Sinj,', common T. V'., Aj>l. 5 to .May 1-'!; Sejit. Is to Oct. 'J3 ; casual in 

 winter. Cambriiljre, not uncommon 'f. \'., .\pl. ami Oct. 



AV.s^, about forty feet from the j^roiiml. AV/ys, five .) seven, '87 x •(57. 



As migrants, Supsuckers are rather inconspicnons. They fre([uent 

 living trees, where they are concealed by the foliage and their weak 

 call-note is not likely to attract attention. 



On reaching their summer homes in the spring their character 

 changes, and Dr. Merriam speaks of them as " noisy, rollicking fel- 

 lows; they are always chasing one another among the trees, screaming 

 meanwhile at the tops of their voices" (Hull. Xutt. Orn. Club, iv, 1HT!>, 

 p. 2). I\lr. Brewster describes the note of the adults at this season as 

 "a ele.ir, ringing ch-iir, repeated five or six times in succession"; 

 while young anil old utter "a low, snarling cry that bears no very dis- 



