NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



269 



♦♦European Thhee-toed Woodpecker Picoides irzaaciylus. Similar in cut to P. americanus (From Brehm). 



402. YELLOW-BELLIED SAPStTCKEE. 8pJiyrapicus varius (Linn.) Geog. 

 Dist. — Eastern North America north to about 63° 31' (north of Port Simpson), breed- 

 ing from Massachusetts northward; in winter to the West Indies, Mexico and Costa 

 Rica. 



The Yellow-bellied Woodpeclter is one of the most singularly marked and most 

 attractive birds of the family. It breeds from the northern United States northward. 

 A common bird in most of its United States range. The Woodpeckers of this genus 

 are the only ones to which the term "Sapsucker" can with any propriety be ap- 

 plied. They lack the long extensile tongue which enables the other species to probe 

 the winding galleries of wood-eating larvfe, and they are known to feed largely upon 

 the green inner bark of trees. In some localities this species is said to dtjtroy 

 many trees by stripping off bark and girdling them with holes for the sap. The fol- 

 lowing details are from Mr. William Brewster's account of this bird's nesting habits 

 in New England. He states that throughout the White Mountains of New Hamp- 

 shire, and in most sections of Northern Maine, the Yellow-bellied Woodpeckers out- 

 number all the other species in the summer season. Their favorite nesting sites are 

 large, dead birches, and a decided preference is manifested for the vicinity of water, 

 though some nests occur in the interior woods. The average height of the excava- 

 tion from the ground is about forty feet. In nearly every tree examined by Mr. 

 Brewster, which contained a nest, there were several newly-finished cavities, and 

 others made in previous years, but in no case was more than one of the excavations 

 inhabited. Many of the nests were gourd-like in shape, with the sides very smoothly 



