234 



WOODPEC.'KERS. 



- !) 



, \ 



/i'««//('.— Katstorn North Amorica; breeds from Florida to nortlieni New 

 York and Manitoba; wintorw fruiii V'irgiiiia, and oeeasionally from northern 

 New York scnitiiward. 



Wa.sliin^fton, rather common S. K., rare W. V. Simr Sin<r, rare P. K., 

 common in fall, Aiii.'. 27 to (Jet. \2. (am bridge, irregular ut all seasons; 

 Koinetimes common in fall. 



Aed, generally in a dead tree. /iV/^.s, four to six, l-uo x -Tr). 



Give a bird an abundance of its favorite food, and its movements 

 no longer seem to Ije governed by the calen<lar. Ked-headed Wood- 

 peckers were suppo.sed to migrate southward in the fall and pass the 

 winter south of Maryhmd until Dr. IMerriau). in his interesting ac- 

 count* of tiie habits of this s])ecies, told us that in Lewis Courity, 

 nortliern New York, their abundance in winter was in no way affected 

 by the severity of the weatlier, l)ut was entirely dependent upon the 

 success of the crop of beechnuts which con.stitute their food. 



Indeed, few birds seem better able to adapt theiTiselves to their 

 surroundings. They change their fare and habits with the season, 

 and to the accoini)Iishments of Woodpeckers add those of Flycatchers 

 and fruit-eaters. We shoidd expect, therefore, to find them very gen- 

 erally distributed, but in the Northern States they show an evident 

 choice for certain localities, and nuiy be wanting over wide stretches 

 of interveiuug territory. 



They are noisy, active birds, and their loud, rolling, tree-toadlike 

 call, ker-r-ruck, kcr-r-rurk, and bright colors cf)mbine to render tliem 

 conspicuous. When on the wing the white secondaries of both adult 

 and immature birds make a striking field mark. 



409. Melanerpes carolinus ( lAim.). UKD-nEi.LiKD WooDnceKKK. 

 All. (5. — Whole top of the bead and back of the neck iirigbt scarlet; back 

 rcjrularly barred with black and white; primaries black ut the end, white, 

 irreL'ularly barred with black, at tlie base ; secondaries black, regularly sjiotted 

 and i)arred with wliitc; upper tail-coverts wliitc, with streaks or arrowheads 

 of lilack; outer tail-feathers and inner vanes of the middle ones irregularly 

 marked with broken black and white bars; ciiecks and under jiarts dull ashy 

 wliite. the region al)out the baseof tlu' bill, tlie miiUllc of the tielly, and some- 

 times tlie breast more or less tinged with red. A'l. 9 .^Similar, but with the 

 crown grayish ashy, the scarlet cryntined to the nape and nnstrils. //«. — Simi- 

 lar, l)iit witli the belly sometimes tinged with buti'y instead of red. L., 'J'50; 

 W., rvoo; T.. «'40; B., MO. 



IiaiKic — Eastern ['nited States, breeding from Florida to Mar\ land, and 

 in the interior to Ontario and southern Dakota; occasionally strays to Massa- 

 eliusetts; winters from Virginia and southern Ohio south wanl. 



Washington, locally common T. li. Cand>riilge, A. V., one record. 



^V<.v^ in trees, about twenty feet from the ground. AV/f/.v, four to six, 



* Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, iii, 1878, pp. 183-1S8. 



