NORTH AMERICAN BflfnS! 



273 



405. PiLEATED Woodpecker (Froui beal). 



406. BED-HEADED WOODPECKEB. Melanerpes erythrocephalus (Linn.) 

 Geog. Dist. — United States and British Provinces, west to the Rocky Mountains, oc- 

 casionally farther. Rare or casual east ot Hudson River. 



One of the most familiar birds in Eastern United States. It Is found almost 

 everywhere — in deep forests and open woods, in groves, orchards and solitary trees 

 in fields, or along the roa:dside, and on the open prairies. A bird of manifold tricks 

 and manners — some are commendable, and some are not. It is known to rob and 

 demolish the nests of the Cliff Swallows; oftentimes whole colonies of these nests 

 are destroyed by this Woodpecker. It seems to have considerable foresight in 

 "looking out for a rainy d&y ahead" by storing grasshoppers, acorns and beech nuts 

 in the cracks and crevices of posts, in the cavities of partially decayed trees, and 

 under patches of raised bark. Berries and various fruits are likewise a portion of 

 its food. A cavity for the nest is dug in the decayed trunk of any kind of a tree 

 of sufficient thickness, and in almost any situation. Telegraph poles are often re- 

 ported to. On the open, treeless prairies it has been known to nest in the angle 

 formed by the shares of an upturned plow, and necessity often compels this bird 

 to make its nest under the roofs or in any dark hole it may And on the prairie 



