Woodpeckers SONGLESS BIRDS. 



Season : A casual resident, and an abundant but irregular migrant, 

 especially in the fall. 



Breeds : From Florida to northern New York and Manitoba. 



Nest : Usually a hole near the top of a blasted tree in mixed woods. 



Eggs : Glassy white. 



Range : United States west to the Rocky Mountains, straggling west- 

 ward to Salt Lake Valley ; rare or local east of the Hudson 

 River. 



This Woodpecker was once a regular summer resident 

 here, but has decreased greatly in numbers and has almost 

 come to be considered as a migrant only, and even then 

 it will be fairly abundant in one season and absent the next. 

 He is an unmistakable bird, when you are lucky enough to 

 see him, for he boldly wears the German flag in his red, 

 white, and black feathers, and you will recognize him at a 

 glance. His increasing rarity is the usual penalty paid by 

 highly coloured birds to thoughtless gunners, and he is a very 

 easy mark when he is feeding flat against a tree trunk. 



Flicker : Colaptes auratus. 



Golden-winged Woodpecker ; Yellowhammer, Highhole, Clape. 



Plate 49. 



Length : 12-13 inches. 



Male : Above golden brown, barred with black. Black crescent on 

 breast, red band on back of head. Round black spots on the 

 belly, black cheek patch. Wing linings and shafts of wing and 

 tail quills gamboge-yellow. Bump white. Bill slender, curv- 

 ing, and pointed, and dark lead-colour ; feet lead-colour. 



Female : Lacks black cheek patches. 



Note: " Wick- wick- wick- wick 1 " Also a few guttural notes. "A 

 prolonged, jovial laugh." (Audubon.) 



Season : Resident, but most plentiful from April to October. 



Breeds : Through its range. 



Nest : In partly decayed trees in orchard, garden, or wood. 



Eggs: Usually 6, white. 



Bange : Northern and eastern North America, west to the eastern 

 slope of the Rocky Mountains and Alaska. Occasional on the 

 Pacific slope from California northward. Accidental in Europe. 

 200 



