278 THE RED-HEADED WOODPECKER. 



while their body is close to it, a man standing at the foot of the pole gives it 

 a smart blow with the head of an axe, on the opposite side to that on which 

 the Woodpecker is, when, in consequence of the sudden and violent vibration 

 produced in the upper part, the bird is thrown off dead. 



According to Dr. Richardson, this species ranges in summer as far north 

 as the northern shores of Lake Huron. A specimen in the Museum of the 

 Hudson's Bay Company is stated to have been brought from the Columbia 

 river. No mention is made of this species as occurring there by Mr. 

 Townsend, who saw it only on the Missouri. I found none in Newfound- 

 land or Labrador, though it is not uncommon in Nova Scotia, from whence 

 I have traced it to the Texas, where it breeds. 



Red-headed Woodpecker, Picus erythrocephalus, Wils. Amer. Orn., vol. i. p. 142. 



Picus erythrocephalus, Bonap. Syn., p. 45. 



Melanerpes erythrocephalus, Bed-headed Woodpecker, Swains, and Rich. F. Bor. 



Amer., vol. ii. p. 316. 

 Red-headed Woodpecker, Picus erythrocephalus, Aud. Orn. Biog., vol. i. p. 141; vol. 



v. p. 536. 



Male, 9, 17. Female, S£. 



Breeds from Texas to Nova Scotia, and throughout the interior to the 

 head waters of the Missouri; thence to Lake Huron. Extremely common. 

 Great numbers spend the winter in Louisiana. 



Adult Male. 



Bill longish, straight, strong, compressed toward the tip, which is verti- 

 cally acute; upper mandible with the dorsal outline nearly straight, the edges 

 acute and overlapping; under mandible with acute, slightly inflected edges. 

 Nostrils basal, elliptical, direct, open. Head rather large; neck short; body 

 robust. Feet short; tarsus and toes scutellate; two toes before and two 

 behind, the inner hind toe shortest; claws strong, arched, acute. 



Plumage glossy, generally blended, on the back and wings compact. 

 Wings longish, third and fourth quills longest. Tail much rounded, of 

 twelve decurved stiff feathers, worn by rubbing to an acute, ragged point. 

 Palpebral region bare. 



Bill light blue, dark at the tip. Feet of the same colour. Iris dark hazel, 

 palpebral region bluish. Head and neck bright crimson. Back-wing-coverts, 

 primaries and tail-feathers black, with blue reflections; rump and secondaries 

 white, the shafts of the latter black. Breast and abdomen white, tinged with 

 yellowish-brown; an irregular transverse narrow band of black at the junc- 

 tion of the red of the fore-neck and the white of the breast. 



Length 9 inches, extent of wings 17; bill along the ridge 1, along the gap 

 1^; tarsus 1. 



