BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA 
173 
NO. 
DATE. 
LOCALITA". 
Food-Materiaes. 
1 
May 6. 1880 
Chester county. Pa 
Beetles and sand. 
2 
May 17, 1880 
Chester county. Pa 
Larvae and seeds. 
3 
June 12, 1880 
Chester county, Pa 
Cherries. 
4 
June 12, 1880 
Chester county. Pa 
Cherries and ants. 
5 
Sept. 11. 1880 
Chester county. Pa. , .... 
Corn (maize). 
6 
Sept. 11, 1880 
Chester county. Pa. , .... 
Black ants. 
7 
Sept. 11, 1880, .... 
Chester county. Pa., .... 
Larvae and beetles. 
8 
May 8, 1883 
Chester county. Pa.. . 
Chiefly beetles and few dipterous insects 
9 
July 5, 1883 
Chester county. Pa 
Piece of an apple. 
10 
Mar. 15, 1886, .... 
Allerton Farm, Pa 
Beetles. 
11 
Mar. 13. 1885 
Volusia, Florida 
Palmetto berries. 
Melanerpes carolinus (Linn.)- 
Red- bellied Woodpecker. 
Description (Plate 76). 
Top of head and nape crimson red ; forehead whitish, strongly tinged with light 
red, a shade of which is also seen on the cheek ; still stronger on the middle of the 
belly. Under parts brownish white, with a faint wash of yellowish on the belly ; 
back, rump and Aving-coverts banded black and white ; upper tail-coverts white, 
with occasional blotches; tail feathers black ; first transversely banded with white; 
second less so; all the rest with whitish tips: inner feathers banded Avith Avhite on 
the inner web ; the outer web Avith a stripe of white along the middle ; iris red. 
Female with the crown ashy ; forehead jAale red ; na^ie bright red. 
Length 9| inches ; extent about 17 ; Aving about 5 inches. 
Habitat. — Eastern United States to the Rocky mountains ; rare or accidental east 
of the Hudson river. 
Audubon found nests of Red-bellied Woodpeckers in orchards in Penn- 
sylvania. The Messrs. Baird, writing- in 1844, mention this species as 
occuping- in the vicinity of Carlisle, Cumberland county, in reference to 
it they say: ‘‘Abundant; most so in winter; resident.” 
Dr. Ezra Michener, in his Chester county list of 1863, records this bird 
as a “resident, frequent; rare in summer.” Dr. Turnbull, in his Birds 
of Eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey, 1869, says, “common, but 
more frequent in summer; found mostly on the larg-er trees of the 
forest.” Mr. Gentry, Avriting- in 1877 {Life Histories of Birds), observes 
that he has found a few of these birds in eastern Pennsylvania from No- 
vember until the latter part of April. According- to my observation, 
the Red-bellied Woodpecker occurs in southeastern Pennsylvania only 
as a rare winter visitant. The few birds observed by myself in this 
locality were exceedingly shy, and Avhen found Avere seen in tall trees in 
the forests. Mr. T. L. Neff, of Carlisle, has never observed it in Cum- 
berland county, at least his report of the species found there contains 
no mention of it. The only locality in Pennsylvania where the Red- 
bellied Woodpecker has been found breeding during recent years is, so 
far as I can learn, in the county of Washington, along our western bor- 
der. I am indebted to Mr. W. T. Warrick, of Washington, Pa., for the 
following interesting facts concerning the species in his localitv : “ This 
bird is not rare here, although not A^ery abundant, and it is resident and 
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