154 
PICUS CAROLINUS. 
42 . PICUS CAROLINUS, LINN. — RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER. 
WILSON, PLATE VII. FIG. II. — EDINBURGH COLLEGE MUSEUM. 
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 one (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 lapdog. It 
is a most expert climber, possessing extraordinary 
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 consi- 
derable 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 
into a hollow limb, twelve or fifteen inches above 
where it becomes solid. This is usually performed 
early in April. The female lays five eggs of a pure 
white, or almost semitransparent ; and the young gene- 
rally make their appearance towards the latter end of 
May, or beginning of June, climbing up to the higher 
parts of the tree, being as yet unable to fly. In this 
situation they are fed for several days, and often 
become the prey of the hawks. From seeing the old 
