A YEAR WITH THE BIRDS 
649 
Note. A short, sharp note and a rattling cry, which starts and ends in 
an abrupt precision, suggestive of a mechanical contrivance set 
off with a spring. This it uses in lieu of a song. (Bicknell.) 
Season: An abundant resident. 
Nest. In tree hole, varying from low apple to high forest trees. 
Eggs: Similar to those of last species, but smaller. 
The Downy Woodpecker, the persistent apple-tree borer, 
is a miniature reproduction of the Hairy Woodpecker, except 
that its tail is barred with black and white. 
Red-headed Woodpecker: Melanerpes erthrocephalus. R. and V. 
Tricolor 
Length: 8.50-9.50 inches. 
Male and Female: Head, throat, and neck crimson. Back, wings, and 
tail blue-black. White below. White band on wings, and white 
rump. Bill horn-colored, and about as long as head. 
Note: A guttural rattle, similar to the cry of the tree-toad. In April 
a hoarse, hollow-sounding cry. (Bicknell.) 
Season: A casual resident, and an abundant but irregular migrant, 
especially in the fall. 
Nest. Usually a hole near the top of a blasted tree in mixed woods. 
Eggs: Glassy white. 
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker: Sphyrapicus varius. V. 
Plate X Fig. 2 
Length: 8.25-8.75 inches. 
Male: Above black, white, and yellowish; below greenish yellow. 
Tail black, white on middle feathers, white edge to wing coverts. 
Crozvn, chin, and throat bright red. Bill about as long as head, 
more pointed and slender than in last species. 
Female: Throat and head whitish. 
Note: A rapid drumming with the bill on the tree branch or trunk 
serves for a love-song, and it has a screaming call note. 
Season: In migrations; more abundant in fall than in spring; also a 
winter visitor. 
Nest: In an unlined hole, which is often 18 or 20 inches deep. 
Eggs: 5, pure white. 
This bird, an occasional sucker of sap, differs in many re- 
spects from the ordinary Woodpeckers, as it often pursues in- 
sects into the air and returns to its perch, like a Flycatcher. 
It also eats nuts, and berries and other fruits, and may be 
often seen searching for them on twigs so slender that they 
bend with its weight. The traces of his carpenter work on 
