WOODPECKERS 
329 
choice for certain localities, and may be wanting over wide stretches 
of intervening territory. 
They are noisy, active birds, and their loud, rolling, tree-toadlil:e 
call, ker-r-ruck, ker-r-ruck, and bright colors combine to render them 
conspicuous. When on the wing the white secondaries of both adult 
and immature birds make a striking field mark. 
409. Centurus carolinus {Linn.). Red-bellied Woodpecker. Ad. 
(?. — Whole top of head and back of the neck bright scarlet; back regularly 
barred with black and white; primaries black at the end, white, irregularly 
barred with black, at the base; secondaries black, regularly spotted and 
barred with white; upper tail-coverts white, with streaks or arrowheads of 
black; outer tail-feathers and inner vanes of the middle ones irregularly 
marked with broken black and white bars; cheeks and underparts dull ashy 
white, the region about the base of the bill, the middle of the belly, and some- 
times the breast, more or less tinged with red. Ad. 9 . — Similar, but with the 
crown grayish ashy, the scarlet confined to the nape and nostrils. Im. — Simi- 
lar, but with the belly sometimes tinged with buffy instead of red. L., 9'50; 
W., 5*00; T., 3*40; B„ 1T0. 
Range . — Upper and Lower Austral zones of e. U. S. from se. S. D., se. 
Minn., sw. Ont., w. N. Y., sw. Pa., and Del., s. to cen. Tex., and the Gulf 
coast; casual n. to Colo., and Mass. 
Washington, locally common P. R. Cambridge, A. V., one record. 
N. Ohio, tolerably common P. R. SE. Minn., uncommon P. R. 
Nest, in dead or living trees, from 20 feet up. Eggs, 4-6, white, P05 x 
*75. Date, Charleston, S. C., last of April; Black Hawk Co., Iowa, May 5; 
se. Minn., May 28. 
This is a common bird in our Southern States. It inhabits alike 
coniferous and deciduous growths, but prefers the latter. It ascends 
a tree in a curious, jerky fashion, accompanying each upward move 
by a hoarse chuh-chuh. It also utters a k-r-r-r-ring roll and, when 
matings a whicker call like that of the Flicker. 
412. Colaptes auratus auratus {Linn.). Flicker. Smaller, darker, 
black dorsal bars wider than in the following form. W., 5*70; T., 3*60; B., 
1*35 (cf. Bangs, Auk, XY. 1898, 177). 
Range . — Austroriparian fauna from N. C., and s. Ills, to s. Fla., and 
cen. Tex. 
Nesting date, San Mateo, Fla., Apl. 10. 
412a. C. a. luteus Bangs. Northern Flicker. Ad. d\ — Top of 
the head ashy gray, a bright scarlet band across the back of the neck; 
back, wing-coverts, and exposed part of secondaries brownish gray, barred 
with black; rump white; primaries black externally, the inner surface of 
the wing and the shafts of the feathers yellow; upper tail-coverts barred or 
streaked with black and white; tail black above, yellow tipped with black 
below, the outer edges of the feathers slightly margined or barred with white; 
sides of the head, throat, and upper breast vinaceous; a broad black stripe 
on each side of the throat from the base of the bill, and a broad black 
crescent across the breast; rest of the underparts white, more or less tinged 
with vinaceous, and thickly spotted with black. Ad. 9 . — Similar, but with- 
out the black streaks on the side of the throat. L., 12*00; W., 6*00; T., 4*00; 
B., 1*40. 
# Remarks . — Exceptional specimens have a few red feathers in the throat 
stripes. A male from Louisiana has this mark entirely red and the head gray- 
ish brown, while another specimen from Toronto has half the tail orange-red. 
