416 



THE YELLOW-BELLIED WOODPECKER. 



of tlie other species, a mere lieap of soft, decaying wood at the bottom of a tunnel dug by the 

 birds, or adapted to their use from an already existing cavity. 



Tlie coloring of this species is very pretty. The top of tlie liead is bi'ight scarlet, and 

 from the base of the beak starts a kind of moustache, black, with a scarlet centre. The whole 

 of the upper surface is dark green, mixed with yellow, changing to sulphur- yellow on the 

 ui)per tail-coverts, llie i)rimaries are grayish-black spotted v.ith white, and the secondaries 

 and tertials are green on their outer webs, and gray-black spotted with white on the inner. 

 The stiff tail-feathers are grayish-black, variegated with some bars of a lighter hue ; and the 

 throat, chest, and all the under surface are ashen-green. The color of the beak is dark, homy 

 black. The female may be kno^\ni from her mate by the wholly black moustache, and the 



^ '> 







'V ^ I' 



UKKEN WOODPECKER.— Pica* mi-uii». 



smaller ornament of scarlet on the head. In the young birds of both sexes, the scarlet of the 

 head is mottled with black and yellow, the green feathers of the back are yellow at their tips, 

 and the under surface is dull brownish-white, with streaks and bars of grayish-black. The 

 total length of this bird rather exceeds one foot. The other species are the Great Black 

 Woodpecker {I)ry6co2ms mdriius), the Northern Three-toe-i Woodpecker {Picoides triddc- 

 tylus), and the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker {Picus mmor). 



The Red-headed Woodpeckek is a. most striking and attractive bird. In the Eastern 

 States, individuals are found during moderate winters, as well as in New York and Pennsyl- 

 vania. They make their appearance about tlie first of May, and leave about the middle of 

 October. Their i-ange is from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. ' 



The Yellow-bellied Woodpecker {Spliyrapicus varius) is one of our resident birds, and 

 a beautiful one it is. It visits the orchards in considerable numbers in October, and is occa- 

 sionally seen during winter. When rearing its young, it seeks the depths of the forests, and 

 is therefore not so often seen in the warmer season. 



