Red-bellied Woodpecker 237 
and only held five or six acorns, each tightly wedged in, 
while others, three inches across and extending down- 
wards for six or eight inches, held many more. It was 
evident that the birds brought the acorns to the 
holes and shelled them there, as the ground beneath 
was littered with empty shells. These observations 
were made at Happy Cafion, about twenty miles south- 
east of Denver, in November, and were published by 
Brewster (98). 
The eggs of this Woodpecker are deposited in natural 
cavities or old Flicker-holes, generally in old pines or 
spruces, or in cotton-woods on the plains. Gale states 
that they seldom if ever excavate a new hole for them- 
selves. The eggs, usually seven, are very ovate, white 
and not very glossy, and measure 1:03 x ‘80. Both 
sexes share in incubation, and fresh eggs may be met 
with between May 15th and June 15th. 
Genus CENTURUS. 
Closely resembling Melanerpes in structure, but with a different 
style of coloration ; the back and wings closely cross-barred with black 
and white. 
Three species in the United States. 
Red-bellied Woodpecker. Centurus carolinus. 
A.O.U. Checklist no 409—Colorado Records—Ridgway 73, p. 185; 
Morrison 89, p. 145; Cooke 97, pp. 84, 208. 
Description. Male—Crown and nape bright scarlet; upper-parts 
cross-barred with black and white; primaries and tail-feathers black 
with white markings, chiefly spots and edgings; below and sides of 
the face grey, with a faint wash of yellow, reddening on the abdomen ; 
iris red, bill black, legs dusky slate, Length 8-4; wing 5-1; tail 3-25; 
culmen 1-1; tarsus -85. 
The female has the crown grey, the frontal plumes dull red and the 
nape scarlet. Young birds are very like the adults, but the red on the 
head is rather indistinct and the belly buffy. 
Distribution.—Eastern North America from Ontario and Massa- 
chusetts to Florida and Texas, west to Kansas and Nebraska, 
