148 



NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



Sphyrapicus varius varius (Linnaeus) 

 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 



Plate 62 



Syst. Nat. Ed. 12. 

 Zool. of N. Y. 1844. 

 varius A. O. U. 



1766. 1 : 176 



pt 2, p. 188, fig. 38 

 Check List. Ed. 3. 



1910. p. 190. 



a hammer, and Lat. picus, a woodpecker; varius, Lat., 



Picus ^^arius Linnaeus. 



DeKay. 

 S p h y r a p i c u s varius 



No. 402 



sphyrapicus, Gr. ^y'Jpx, 

 variegated 



Description, Male: Crown and throat bright red bordered with black; 

 a broad black crescent on the upper breast; upper parts variegated with black 



and yellowish white; a broad stripe of 

 white on the wing formed by the white 

 ends of the wing coverts; wing feath- 

 ers black, bar-spotted with white; tail 

 feathers black, except inner webs of 

 middle pair; upper tail coverts mostly 

 white ; under parts more or less heavily 

 tinged with yellow, especially around 

 the margin of the black breast shield, 

 and the center of the belly; sides 

 dingy brownish white, variegated with 

 blackish. Female: Throat white in- 

 stead of scarlet; crown scarlet in 

 old females but black in young ones, 

 even through the second summer in 

 many specimens; otherwise like 

 m.ale. Young: Similar to adult, but 

 browner, and lacking the black breast 

 shield, and the scarlet on crown 

 not showing till late in the first 

 autumn. 



Length 8-8.8 inches; extent 15-16; 

 wing 5; tail 3; bill i. 



Yellow-bellied 



Photo by James H. Miller 

 sapsucker Sphyrapicus 

 varius (Linnaeus) 



varius 



Distribution. The Yellow-bellied 

 sapsucker breeds throughout the 

 boreal life zone of eastern America from the highlands of Pennsylvania, 

 Michigan and Alinnesota northward to Quebec, Ungava and Mackenzie, 



