SPECIES 10. PICUS C^ROLINUS. 
RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER. 
[Plate VII. — Fig. 2.] 
Ficus Carolinus, Linn. Syst. i, 174, 10. — Pic varie de la Janiai- 
que, Buffon, vii, 72, PL EnL 597. — Picus varius medius Janiai- 
censis, Sloan. Jam. 299, 15. — Jamaica Woodpecker, Edw. 244. 
— Catesb. I, 10, jig. 2. — Jirct. Zool. ii, JVo. 161. — Lath. Syn. 
II, 570, 17. Id. 571, 17. Jl. Id. B. — Pic raye de la Louisiane^ 
Buff, vii, 73=. PI. EnL 692. — Peale’s Museum, J^o. 1944. 
This species possesses all the restless and noisy habits so 
characteristic of its tribe. It is more shy, and less domestic, 
than the Red-headed Woodpecker, (P. erythrocephalus,) or 
any of the other spotted Woodpeckers. It is also more solitary. 
It prefers the largest, high-timbered woods, and tallest decayed 
trees of the forest; seldom appearing near the ground, on the 
fences, or in orchards, or open fields; yet where the trees have 
been deadened, and stand pretty thick, in fields of Indian corn, 
as is common in new settlements, I have observed it to be very 
numerous; and have found its stomach sometimes completely 
filled with that grain. Its voice is hoarser than any of the others; 
and its usual note, chow, has often reminded me of the barking 
of a little lap-dog. It is a most expert climber, possessing ex- 
traordinary strength in the muscles of its feet and claws, and 
moves about the body, and horizontal limbs, of the trees, with 
equal facility in all directions. It rattles, like the rest of the 
tribe, on the dead limbs, and with such violence as to be heard, 
in still weather, more than half a mile off; and listens to hear 
the insects it has alarmed. In the lower side of some lofty 
branch, that makes a considerable angle with the horizon, the 
male and female, in conjunction, dig out a circular cavity for 
their nest, sometimes out of the solid wood, but more generally 
