400 BIEDS — PICID^. 



inner web of central feathers wliite with black spots, onter web of the same black with 

 a white space next the shaft for most of its length ; white predominating on the rnmp. 

 Length, 9-10 ; wing abont 5 ; tail about ?^. 



Habitat, Eastern United States to the Kocky Mountains. North rarely to southern 

 New England. Canada West. 



Common resident. Breeds. The Red-bellied Woodpecker, known to 

 many as the " Zebra Bird," is the most retiring of all our species. In 

 the colder months of the year it is frequently found on the edges of heavy 

 woodland and in partially cleared land, less often in fields or near hab- 

 itations. In summer, however, it retires to the deepest and most unfre- 

 quented forests to breed. Mr. Kirkpatrick, as the result of his observa- 

 tions near Cleveland, suggests that it may be a summer resident only in 

 Northern Ohio, which would account for their greater abundance, appar- 

 ently, in other parts of the State in winter. It does not dififer much in 

 habits from the Hairy Woodpecker. 



When engaged in hammering for insects, it frequently utters a short 

 singular note, which Wilson, who mentions finding the bird at Chilli- 

 cothe, Ohio, likens to the bark of small dog. The note is usually twice 

 repeated and resembles the hoarse utterance of the syllables chow, chow. 



The nest is excavated in the dead limb or trunk of a high tree. The 

 eggs are five, white, and measure 1.02 by .88. 



Genus MELANEEPES. Swainson. 



Eidge of upper mandible not extending to tip or commissure of bill. Nostrils broadly 

 oval. Outer pair of toes equal. 



Melaneepes ebythbocephalus (L.) Sw. 



Il;ed-liea.ded "Woodpecker. 



Pious erythrocephalus, Kirtland, Ohio Geolog. Surv., 1838, 122. — Bead, Proo. Phila 



Acad. Nat. Set., vi, 1853, 395. 

 Melanerpes erythrocephalus, Kirkpatrick, Ohio Farmer, ix, 1860, 339. — Wheaton, Ohio 



Agrio. Eep. for 1860, 362, 373 ; Reprint, 1861, 4, 15 ; Food of Birds, etc., Ohio Agrio. 



Rep. for 1874, 569 ; Reprint, 1875, 9.— Langdon, Oat. Birds of Gin., 1877, 11 ; Revised 



List, Journ. Cin. Boo. Nat. Hist., i, 1879, 178 ; Reprint, 12 ; Summer Birds, ib., iii., 



1880, 225. 

 Red-headed Woodpecker, Bai-lou, Field and Forest, iii, 1878, 174. 



Picus erythrocephalus, Lum^us, Syst. Nat., i, 1766, 174. 

 Melanerpes erythrocephalus, Swainson, Fn. Bor. Am., ii, 1831, 316. 



Glossy blue-black ; rump, secondaries and under parts from the breast pure white ; 

 primaries and tail feathers black ; whole head, neck and breast crimson in both sexes, 

 grayish-brown in the young ; about 9 ; wing, 5J ; tail, 3^^. 



Habitat, Temperate North America to the Rocky Mountains. Now rare in New Eng- 

 land, Utah. California. 



