272 
RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER. 
of its lower parts are almost black, from the carbonaceous matter adhering 
to them ; and generally in winter, at least in the Floridas, I have found its 
plumage more soiled than in summer. I have represented a male and a 
female, in their perfect spring plumage. 
Red-bellied Woodpecker, Ficus carolinus, Wils. Amer. Orn., vol. i. p. 113 . 
Picus Carolinus, Bonap. Syn., p. 45. 
Red-bellied Woodpecker, Nutt. Man., vol. i. p. 572. 
Red-bellied Woodpecker, Ficus carolinus , And. Orn. Biog., vol. v. p. 169. 
Male, 7f, 151. Female, 8, 14^-. 
Breeds from Kentucky in the West, and from Maryland to Nova Scotia 
and Canada. Abundant in winter in all the Southern States, from Carolina 
to Texas, and especially in the Floridas. 
Adult Male. 
Bill about the length of the head, nearly straight, being very slightly 
decurved or arched, strong, angular, compressed toward the tip, whic'h is 
truncate and cuneate. Upper mandible with the dorsal line somewhat 
arched, the ridge very narrow, the sides sloping but convex, the lateral angle 
slight, near the ridge, the edges sharp, direct, overlapping. Lower mandible 
with the angle short and rather narrow, the crural outline concave, the 
dorsal line ascending and straight, the sides ascending and convex, the edges 
sharp and inflected, the tip narrow. Nostrils oblong, basal, concealed by 
the feathers, and placed about half-way between the ridge and the edge. 
Head of moderate size, ovate; neck rather short ; body full. Feet very 
short ; tarsus very short, feathered anteriorly one-third down, in the rest of 
its extent covered with a few large scutella, compressed, with a series of 
small scutella internally behind ; toes four ; first toe small, fourth a little 
shorter than third, second and third united at the base; all scutellate above; 
claws large, much curved, compressed', laterally grooved, very acute. 
Plumage full, soft, and blended. A tuft of reversed stifflsh feathers on 
each side of the base of the upper mandible, concealing the nostrils ; the 
feathers in the angle of the lower mandible also stifflsh. Wings rather 
long; the first quill very small, being only an inch and four-twelfths long, 
six and a half twelfths shorter than the third, which is two-twelfths shorter 
than the fourth, the latter the longest, the fifth almost equal ; secondaries 
rounded, and slightly emarginate. Tail of moderate length, cuneate, of 
twelve feathers, of which the lateral, which are rounded and entire, are 
only an inch and a twelfth long, the next also unworn, are ten and a half 
twelfths shorter than the middle, which with those on each side have the 
tip slit, the shaft terminating abruptly. 
Bill bluish-grey, dusky toward the end. Iris bright red. Feet dusky 
