RED-BELLIED WOODPECKEE. 251 



in Manitoba, north of which I have not heard of its having been 

 •observed. 



Besides the ordinary food of woodpeckers, it shows a taste for 

 grasshoppers and beetles, in search of which it may often be observed 

 on the ground. It is also very fond of ripe fruit, and incurs the 

 serious displeasure of the gardeners by mutilating or carrying off the 

 finest of the apples, pears, cherries and other fruits. 



They are rather noisy and quarrelsome birds, but this trait may 

 be partly assumed. 



They all leave Ontario in October, and during the winter none are 

 observed. 



Subgenus CENTURUS Swainson. 

 MELANERPES CAROLINUS (Linn.). 



178. Red-bellied Woodpecker. (409) 



Back and wings, except largeri quills, closely banded with black and white ; 

 primaries with large white blotches near the base, and usually a few smaller 

 spots ; whole crown and nape, scarlet in the mate, partly so in the female ; 

 sides of head and under parts, grayish-white, usually with a yellow shade, 

 reddening on belly; flanks and crissum, with sagittate-black marks; tail, 

 black, one or two outer feathers white, barred ; inner web of central feathers 

 white with black spots ; outer web of same black, with a white space next the 

 shaft for most of its length ; white predominating on the rump. Length, 9-10 ; 

 wing, about 5 ; tail, about 3|. 



Hae. — Eastern United States, to the Rocky Mountains ; rare or accidental 

 •east of the Hudson River. 



Nest, a hole in a tree. 



Eggs, four to six, white. 



This handsome woodpecker is gradually becoming more common in 

 ■Southern Ontario, and like some others, such as the Lark-finch, 

 Orchard Oriole and Rough-winged Swallow, it evidently makes its 

 entrance to the Province round the west end of Lake Erie. 



It seems to find its northern limit in Southern Ontario, and even 

 there confines itself chiefly to the south-west portion. Stragglers 

 have been found near Toronto and Hamilton, while near London it 

 breeds and is tolerably common, but Mr. White has not yet found it 

 in Ottawa, and it is not included among the "Birds of Manitoba." 



In the "Birds of Ohio," Dr. Wheaton mentions it as a common 

 summer resident, but it is not named among the " Birds of Minne- 



