Birds of Massachusetts. 173 
barking ery, is one of the most familiar sounds he 
hears. They were doubtless common in Massa- 
chusetts, some years ago; but as they gradually 
withdraw before the settlements, they will disappear 
as the forests are cut down ; a consummation, which 
is quite as near at hand, as the friend of civilization 
could desire. - 
The YELLOW BELLIED WoopPEeckrn, Picus va- 
rius, is found in summer, in most parts of the State, 
but is not familiarly known, because, like the for- 
mer, it keeps itself within the shade of the forest, 
seldom suffering cither hunger or curiosity to bring 
it near human habitations. lis notes, which are 
loud and plaintive, differ from those of all others of 
its tribe; but the bird is so shy and suspicious that 
it is not easy to discover whence the sound pro- 
ceeds. In its flight it seldom goes farther than 
from one tree to another, and is hardly ever seen 
upon the ground. Its food consists of grubs and 
beetles. In the summer, it varies its fare with ber- 
ries and grapes, which it frequently hangs, head 
downwards, from the vine, to gather. When they | 
migrate, they proceed by day in parties of half a 
dozen, and at night take shelter all together in some 
hole in a decaying tree. Sometimes on these occa- 
sions, they have sharp conflicts with the Little Owl, 
in which they generally prevail by perseverance and 
force of numbers. 
This woodpecker bores its hole in a sound tree, 
the male and female laboring alternately ; and such 
is the power of their bills, that an excavation is 
