WOODPECKEKS. 47 



Red-cockaded Woodpecker. Dryobates borealis. 



This southern woodpecker is of very local distribution in the State 

 and seems to be confined to pine woods. It was reported as breeding 

 rather commonly near Clinton in 1890 and a specimen from there was 

 identified in the Biological Survey. Mr. W. A. Monroe, of Newport, 

 found it breeding near there in 1884 and killed several specimens. 

 Mr. B. T. Gault observed the birds daily in the summer of 1888 in 

 pine woods at Heber, Cleburne County, 1 and Mr. Savage saw three 

 individuals at Delight, October 14, 1910, although none had been 

 observed there during the summer. 



Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. Sphyrapicus varius. 



The sapsucker is a northern-breeding species, found in the nesting 

 season from the latitude of St. Louis northward and occurring in 

 Arkansas as a spring and fall migrant and winter resident. It has 

 been recorded in winter at Delight and Judsonia. 2 Hanna took 8 

 specimens at Van Buren between December 6 and 28, and doubtless 

 it is common at that season over the greater part of the State. Spring 

 migration takes place mainly in late March and early April, the first 

 arrival at Clinton having been noted on April 7 and at Delight on 

 April 5. The fall migration is chiefly during October, the first birds 

 having been seen at Delight on the 15th and the species was common 

 by the 20th. Its occurrence in summer has been reported by Mr. 

 W. A. Monroe, who found a number of the birds in the hills 50 miles 

 west of Newport in June, July, and August, 1884. 3 No nests or young 

 birds were observed and the record, being unsubstantiated by speci- 

 mens, is open to considerable question, since the species has never 

 been found elsewhere in the Mississippi Valley so far south in summer. 

 This is the only one of the woodpeckers of the State which is fairly 

 entitled to be called a "sapsucker." It is known to do considerable 

 damage to certain forest and orchard trees, including birch, maple, 

 oak, ash, apple, and other species, by puncturing the bark in the 

 form of girdles, sometimes causing the death of the trees. The birds 

 feed both on the sap which flows from the punctures and on the insects 

 attracted to the sap. Their food includes also large numbers of 

 forest insects, as well as wild fruits and berries. 



Pileated Woodpecker. Phloeotomus pileatus. 



This large woodpecker, known under the vernacular names of 

 "woodcock," "logcock," "woodchuck," etc., is quite common and 

 generally distributed in the heavily timbered parts of the State. It 

 is nonmigratory and breeds throughout its range, having been 



1 Widmann, O., Birds of Missouri, p. 121, 1907. 



2 Reynolds, H. S., Am. Nat., XI, p. 308, 1877. 



s Cooke, W. W., Bull. 2, Div. Econ. Orn., p. 130, 1888. 



