YELLOW-BELLIED WOODPECKER. j^ 



occasionally seen during the whole winter and spring, but 

 seems to seek the depths of the forest to rear its young in; 

 for during summer it is rarely seen among our settlements ; 

 and even in the intermediate woods, I have seldom met with 

 it in that season. According to Brisson, it inhabits the conti- 

 nent from Cayenne to Virginia ; and I may add, as far as to 

 Hudson's Bay, where, according to Hutchins, they are called 

 Meksewe Paupastaow ; * they are also common in the States 

 of Kentucky and Ohio, and have been seen in the neigh- 

 bourhood of St Louis. They are reckoned by Georgi 

 among the birds that frequent the Lake Baikal, in Asia ; f 

 but their existence there has not been satisfactorily ascer- 

 tained. 



The habits of this species are similar to those of the hairy 

 and downy woodpeckers, with which it generally associates ; 

 and which are both represented on the same plate. The only 

 nest of this bird which I have met with was in the body of 

 an old pear tree, about ten or eleven feet from the ground. 

 The hole was almost exactly circular, small for the size of the 

 bird, so that it crept in and out with difficulty; but suddenly 

 widened, descending by a small angle, and then running 

 downward about fifteen inches. On the smooth solid wood 

 lay four white eggs. This was about the 25th of May. 

 Having no opportunity of visiting it afterwards, I cannot 

 say whether it added any more eggs to the number ; I 

 rather think it did not, as it appeared at that time to be 

 sitting. 



The yellow-bellied woodpecker is eight inches and a half 

 long, and in extent fifteen inches ; whole crown, a rich and 

 deep scarlet, bordered with black on each side, and behind 

 forming a slight crest, which it frequently erects ; J from the 

 nostrils, which are thickly covered with recumbent hairs, a 

 narrow strip of white runs downward, curving round the 

 breast ; mixing with the yellowish white on the lower part of 



* Latham. f Ibid. 



X This circumstance seems to have been overlooked by naturalists. 



