LEWIS'S WOODPECKEE. 121 



most cases, dull, opaque white, without any gloss whatever. Some sets, however, 

 are moderately glossy, but scarcely as much so as the better-known eggs of the 

 Red-headed Woodpecker, and none are as lustrous as the eggs of the Flicker. 



The average measurement of one hundred and seventy-one specimens in the 

 United States National Museum collection is 26.23 by 20.26 millimetres, or about 

 1.03 by 0.80 inches. The largest egg of the series measures 29.97 by 22.35 

 millimetres, or 1.18 by 0.88 inches; the smallest, 23.88 by 16.51 millimetres, or 

 0.94 by 0.65 inch; and a runt egg, 18.80 by 15.24 millimetres, or 0.74 by 0.60 inch. 



The type specimen. No. 19363 (not figured), Bendire collection, from a 

 set of nine eggs, was taken by the writer near Camp Harney, Oregon, on May 

 24, 1877; incubation had commenced in seven of these eggs and two were 

 fresh; the male was caught in the nest. 



43. Melanerpes carolinus (LiNNiEus). 



RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER. 



Pious carolinus Linn^US, Systema Naturae, ed. 10, 1, 1758, 113. 



Melanerpes carolinus Eidgwat, Annals Lyceum Natural History, New York, X, Jan., 

 1874, 378. 



(B 91, C 306, E 372, 450, U 409.) 



Geographical range: Eastern United States; from Florida and the Gulf coast, 

 nortli to southern New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, southern Michigan, southern Wisconsin, 

 southeastern South Dakota, and southern Ontario, in the Dominion of Canada; west to 

 Nebraska, Kansas, the Indian Territory, and through about the eastern half of Texas. 

 Eare or casual in eastern New York, Connecticut, and eastern Massachusetts. 



The northern limits of the breeding range of the Red-bellied Woodpecker, 

 also known as the "Carolina" a,nd "Checkered" Woodpecker, "Zebra Bird," 

 "Woodchuck," and in Florida as "Orange Sapsucker" and "Sham-shack," are 

 not well defined as yet. It is questionable if it breeds in New York, although 

 specimens have been taken in different localities in this State both in fall and 

 winter. It is known to breed regularly in southwestern Pennsylvania, in Wash- 

 ington and Westmoreland counties, where it is a resident, and in a number of 

 instances Red-bellied Woodpeckers have been taken much farther north in this 

 State, mainly in winter. From southwestern Pennsylvania westward it becomes 

 both more common and a more regular summer resident throughout its range as 

 already indicated. In Nebraska it appears to be rare north of the Platte River, 

 and it is also reported as a rare summer visitor in southeastern South Dakota by 

 Dr. Gr. S. Agersborg, where he says it probably breeds. Strange to say, it has 

 not been reported yet from any place in Minnesota; but it will undoubtedly 

 be found in some of the southern counties in this State. Although the 

 western limits of the range of this species are generally given as reaching the 

 eastern slopes of the Rocky Mouritains, I can not find any positive and reliable 

 records of its occurrence west of the States of Nebraska and Kansas, and in 

 these it seems to be rare in the western parts. It is fairly common and breeds 



