2380 NOTES ON THE 
fact that they have been obtained at a lower latitude in Wis- 
consin, adjoining us, and in Massachusetts, and that Richard- 
son found them on that ‘‘north shore,” I feel justified in this 
instance to record the species upon rumor. I have not the 
slightest doubt but what it belongs to our fauna, and that 
future observers will find it not very rare. 
SPECIFIC CHARACTERS. 
Black above; the back with transverse bands of white to the 
rump; a white line from behind the eye, widening on the nape, 
and a broader one under the eye from the loral region, but 
not extending on the forehead; occiput and sides of the head 
uniform black; quills spotted on both webs with white; under 
parts white; the sides banded transversely with black; top of 
the head spotted with white; the crown of the male with a 
yellow patch; bill bluish black; iris dark hazel. 
Length, 8 to 9; wing, 4.45 to 4.50; tail, 3.85 to 3.50. 
Habitat, northern North America, from the arctic regions 
southward, in winter to the northern United States. 
SPHYRAPICUS VARIUS (L.). (402.) 
YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER. 
This woodpecker is fairly common throughout the wooded 
districts, arriving from the first to the fifteenth of April. 
Those familiar with the species recognize its presence at once 
by its hammering or drumming of its strong bills on the larger 
limbs and trunks of partially dead trees. It is said to be a 
diversion of which they are peculiarly fond, and not as for- 
merly supposed, the zealous effort of a hungry woodpecker to 
get a morsel to eat. Their note is exceptionally loud, spirited 
and distinct, but less voluble than some of the other species. 
Their food consists of larvee buried underneath the outer bark 
of trees and insects of the smaller species, to which some add 
the sap of trees of various kinds. This latter habit may pos- 
sibly be the case when they are more thirsty than hungry. A 
number of other species have been charged with destroying 
valuable trees by tapping them too extensively for food. The 
question has not yet been definitely settled and possibly may 
not be for a good while. My own observations have inclined 
me away from the sap-food theory. 
They mate about the first of May and by the twentieth the 
nest has been excavated in the trunk of a large tree, perfectly 
sound or partially decayed, and from forty to sixty feet from 
the ground in many cases, but occasionally much lower. As a 
