428 PICID^. 



Coatepec (M. Trujillo), Jalapa {de Oca », F. D. 6., Ferrari-Perez), Hacienda de 

 los Atlixcos (F. D. G.), Cordova {Salle ''), Orizaba {Sumichrast "), Valley of Mexico 

 {Sumichrasf^^, Herrera^'^), Coapa, Ixtapalapa, Mexicalcingo, Hacienda Eslava, 

 Culhuacan, Coajimalpa, Chimalpa, and Tetelco in the Valley of Mexico, Huexotitla 

 in Puebla ^^ {Ferrari-Perez), Tenango del Valle ( W. B. Bichardson), Plains of 

 Colima {Xantus^% Colima, Volcan de Colima, Zapotlan {W. B. Richardson), La 

 Parada, Llano Verde {Boucard ^), Villa Alta, Totontepec, Tonaguia {M. Trwjillo), 

 Sta. Efigenia, Gineta Mts. {Sumichrast ^*), Merida in Yucatan {Schott ^^) ; Guate- 

 mala {Skinner ^^, Constancia ^^), Coban, San Geronimo, Duenas, Volcan de Agua, 

 upper pine-region of Volcan de Fuego 10,000 to 11,000 feet {0. S. & F. B. G.), 

 Toliman {W. B. Bichardson); Honddkas, Siquatepeque {G. C. Taylor ^°); Nica- 

 ragua, San Eafael del Norte ( W. B. Bichardson) ; Costa Eica {Mus. Brit.). 



Except along our northern frontier Sphyropicus varius is probably only a winter 

 visitor to Mexico and Central America. All our records of it refer to that time of 

 year, nearly all the dates ranging from November to March and the beginning of April. 

 Mr. Richardson found it as late as May in the sierras of Tamaulipas ; but possibly 

 the specimens he obtained would have bred in the district. 



In the United States the " Yellow-bellied Woodpecker " or " Sap-Sucker," under 

 which names S. varius is known, is a common bird, arriving in April and May and 

 remaining to breed. It is well known in the New England States and has even been 

 recorded from Greenland. 



Its winter resorts include Central America as far south as Honduras and Northern 

 Nicaragua — that is, as far as the southern extension of the upland pines. It also occurs 

 in many of the West India Islands. Mr. Cory mentions several of the Bahamas, 

 Gosse and others the island of Jamaica, and Dr. Gundlach Cuba, where it arrives 

 every autumn on passage. 



The range in altitude of this species in its winter-quarters is very considerable, for 

 it occurs in Northern Yucatan near the sea-level and in the upland pine-region of the 

 higher volcanoes of Guatemala at least 10,500 feet above the sea. It is, however, 

 most commonly met with in the highlands between 4000 and 8000 feet. 



In 1891, Mr. Frank Boiler published an interesting account of the feeding-habits 

 of this species in a paper entitled " Yellow-bellied Woodpeckers and their uninvited 

 Guests " 2. From his observations he concludes that this species is in the habit for 

 successive years of drilling holes in several kinds of trees for the purpose of taking 

 from them the " elaborated sap " and sometimes the cambium-layer of the bark ; that 

 the birds consume the sap in large quantities for its own sake and not for the insects 

 which it occasionally contains ; that the sap attracts many insects of various kinds, a 

 few of which form a considerable part of the food of this bird, but whose capture 

 does not occupy nearly so much time as sap-drinking ; that different families of these 



