Jan., 1909. Birds of Illinois axd Wisconsin — Cory. 



515 



Genus SPHYRAPICUS Baird. 



193. Sphyrapicus varius (Linn.). 

 Yellow-bellied Woodpecker. 

 Distr.: Eastern Xorth America; south in winter to West Indies, 

 Mexico and Central America; breeds from Massachusetts and north- 

 ern border of eastern United States northward. 



Adult male: Toes, four; top of head and throat, red; a white 

 stripe over, and another below the eye ; a black stripe through the 



eye, extending to the sides of the 

 neck; breast, with large black 

 patch, bordered with yellow and 

 white; belly, pale yellow; sides, 

 marked with white and dusky; 

 back, irregularly marked with black 

 and dingy yellowish white; wing 

 coverts, heavily marked with white, 

 forming a conspicuous wing bar; 

 primaries, black, spotted with 

 white; tail feathers, black, the 

 outer ones edged with white, and 

 the inner webs of middle feathers 

 broadly barred with white. 



Adult female: Similar, but the 

 throat white, instead of red, and 

 the red on the crown less extended. 



Immature birds have the crown dusky, the throat whitish or 

 grayish, and breast, gray, mottled with dusky. 



The white wing bar and the yellowish tinge of the plumage will 

 distinguish this species. 



Length, about 8.50; wing, about 5; tail, 3.15; bill, .90. 

 The Yellow-bellied Woodpecker is a common spring and fall mi- 

 grant in Illinois and Wisconsin, and an occasional summer resident 

 in northern Illinois and Indiana. It is a common summer resident 

 in Wisconsin, where according to Kumlien and Hollister, it breeds in 

 considerable numbers as far south as Lake Koshkonong (Birds of 

 W^isconsin, 1903, p. 76). Mr. John F. Ferry procured a nest of young 

 birds at Woodruff, Wisconsin, June 25, 1908. It occurs more or less 

 commonly as a winter resident in southern Illinois. 



The nest is a hole in some large tree or stump, usually 30 or more 

 feet from the ground. The eggs are white, six or seven in number. 

 and measure about .85 x .66 inches. 



Yellow-bellied Woodpecker. 



