232 WOODPECKERS. 



then it will fly from a detached tree of a field to a considerable dis- 

 tance before it alights, emitting at every glide a loud, shrill note " 

 (Audubon). 



401. Picoides americanus Brehm. American Three-toed Wood- 

 PECKEK. Ad. i . — Toes three, two in front ; head spotted with white and with 

 an orange-yellow patch on the crowu ; back barred witli black and white / 

 wing-feathers spotted with black and white; middle tail-feathers black, 

 outer ones black and white ; region below the eye mixed black and white; 

 sides more or less barred with black and white; rest of the under parts 

 white. Ad. 9 .—Similar, but crown spotted with black and white, and with- 

 out yellow. L., 8'75 ; W., 4-55 ; T., 8-10 ; B. from N., -95. 



iJan^e.— Northern North America, south to the northern United States. 

 Nest, in the lower part of a tree. Eggs., white, -92 x -TO (Merriam, Bull. 

 Nutt. Orn. Club., iii, 1878, p. 200). 



" It is said to greatly resemble P. villosus in habits, except that it 

 seeks its food principally upon decaying trees of the pine tribe, in 

 which it frequently makes holes large enough to bury itself. It is 

 not migratory " (B., B., and R.). 



402. Sphyrapicus varius {Linn.). Yellow-bellied Sapsuokee. 

 Ad. i . — Crown deep scarlet, back irregularly barred with black and yellow- 

 ish white; wing-feathers spotted with white, their coverts mostly white; 

 tail black, the middle feathers with broken black bars, the outer ones with 

 white margins ; a white line from the bill passes below the eye ; throat car- 

 dinal ; breast black ; sides streaked with black ; belly pale yellow. Ad. 9 . — 

 Similar, but throat white ; crown sometimes black ; outer tail-feathers with 

 broken white bars. Im. — Similar to ads., but with the crown dull blackish, 

 the breast brownish gray barred with black, the throat whitish. L., 8-56 ; 

 "W., 4'8r; T., 3-20; B., 92. 



Range. — Eastern North America ; breeds from Massachusetts northward, 

 and winters from Virginia to Central America. 



Washington, common T. V., Mch. and Apl. ; Oct., occasional in winter. 

 Sing Sing, common T. V., Apl. 5 to May 13 ; Sept. 18 to Oct. 23 ; casual in 

 winter. Cambridge, not uncommon T. V., Apl. and Oct. 



Nest., about forty feet from the ground. Eggs., five to seven, '87 x "67. 



As migrants, Sapsuckers are rather inconspicuous. They frequent 

 living trees, where they are concealed by the foliage and their weak 

 call-note is not likely to attract attention. 



On reaching their summer homes in the spring their character 

 changes, and Dr. Merriam speaks of them as " noisy, rollicking fel- 

 lows ; they are always chasing one another among the trees, screaming 

 meanwhile at the tops of their voices " (Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, iv, 1879, 

 p. 3). Mr. Brewster describes the note of the adults at this season as 

 " a clear, ringing clmw, repeated five or six times in succession " ; 

 while young and old utter " a low, snarling cry that bears no very dis- 



