14 



THE COLLECTORS' MONTHLY. 



Three Picariaus. 



I startled from a flower bed one 

 morning last August, a large and 

 beautiful red-winged butterfly ; it 

 rose rapidly in the air for a space of 

 about one hundred feet, when out 

 from a snag of a once lofty elm came 

 the well known call of the Red-head- 

 ed Wood-pecker as it caught sight of 

 the brilliant-hued insect, which in- 

 stinctively knew its danger, as it 

 dropped immediately toward the 

 earth for safety ; to escape however 

 was impossible as the bird seized the 

 struggling insect, bore it to the snag 

 and devoured it. 



We all know this bird of America 

 true to the national colors : red, white 

 and blue. As described by Coues — 

 " beautifully tri-color, with red, white 

 and blue ; back, wings and tail a glos- 

 sy blue-black ; secondaries, upper tail 

 covert, under wing coverts, under 

 parts from the breast and ends of out- 

 er tail feathers white ; whole head, 

 neck and fore-breast crimson." 



There is also nesting in this elrn, 

 the " Stink-bird," or the Red-bellied 

 Wood-pecker ; it belongs to the spe- 

 cies of Ladder-backed, or Zebra Wood- 

 peckers ; having under parts grayish 

 white with red on belly, as though 

 blood had been smeared on the feath- 

 ers ; upper parts zebraed with small 

 bands of black and white. Head of 

 male scarlet, with exception from un- 

 derneath eyes and down on the throat 

 to breast, is grayish white. The fe- 

 male has the muchal.only scarlet. 



Down on the trunk of this same 

 elm, almost daily may be seen, travel- 

 ing up and around it, seldom higher 

 than the first limbs, a bird somewhat 

 smaller than the two former, having a 

 white stripe down the middle of the 

 back which is otherwise black and 

 covered profusely with whke dots. 

 Under parts and outer tail feathers 

 white with a scarlet muchal band 

 broken in two in the male and want- 

 ing in the female. This is our much 

 and wrongfully abused Hairy Wood- 

 pecker, searching indefatigably for his 

 daily food. 



The three foregoing birds, while 

 each belongs to a different species, are 

 very similar in their habits arid nest- 

 ing ; occupying holes and excavations 

 for- their nests, and depositing from 

 four to six white eggs. Their young 

 while in the nest have such a stench 

 that they are seldom disturbed. All 

 having the regular truncate bill and 

 the extensible tongue, armed with a 

 spiney tip of the Picidse family, for 

 the securing of larva? and wood 

 worms. Food principally being in- 

 sects, the larvae, fruit, berries and 

 green corn in summer. Migratory ; 

 though some of each species remain 

 with us during the winter, gleaning a 

 scanty subsistence in the bleak and 

 almost deserted woodland districts. 

 These three wood -peckers are not 

 much of a terrestrial bird, especi- 

 ally the two latter, though frequently 

 seen on stumps, logs and roots of 

 trees seeking their food ; the Hairy 

 being particularly fond of ants. The 



