BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 
173 
0. 
Date. 
Locality. 
Food-Materials. 
1 
May 6, 1880. 
Chester county, Pa. 
Beetles and sand. 
2 
May 17, 1880. 
Chester county. Pa. 
Larvae and seeds. 
3 
June 12, 1880. 
Chester county. Pa. 
Cherries. 
4 
June 12, 1880. 
Chester county, Pa. 
Cherries and ants. 
5 
Sept. 11. 1880. 
Chester county, Pa., 
Corn (maize). 
6 
Sept. 11, 1880. 
Chester county, Pa., 
Black ants. 
7 
Sept. 11, 1880. 
Chester county, Pa. 
Larva? and beetles. 
8 
May 8, 1883. 
Chester county. Pa. 
Chiefly beetles and few dipterous insects 
9 
July 5, 1883. 
Chester county, Pa., 
Piece of an apple. 
10 
Mar. 15, 1880. 
Allerton Farm, Pa. 
Beetles. 
11 
Mar. 13. 1885. 
Volusia, Florida. 
Palmetto berries. 
Melanerpes carolinus (Linn.). 
Red-bellied Woodpecker. 
Description ( Plate 76). 
Top of head and nape crimson red ; forehead whitish, strongly tinged with light 
red, a shade of which is also seen on the cheek ; still stronger on the middle of the 
belly. Under parts brownish white, with a faint wash of yellowish on the belly ; 
back, rump and wing-coverts banded black and white; upper tail-coverts white, 
with occasional blotches; tail feathers black ; first transversely banded with white; 
second less so; all the rest with whitish tips; inner feathers banded with white on 
the inner web ; the outer web with a stripe of white along the middle ; iris red. 
Female with the crown ashy ; forehead pale red ; nape bright red. 
Length inches; extent about 17 ; wing about 5 inches. 
Habitat. —Eastern United States to the Rocky mountains ; rare or accidental east 
of the Hudson river. 
Audubon found nests of Red-bellied Woodpeckers in orchards in Penn¬ 
sylvania. Tlie Messrs. Baird, writing in 1844, mention this species as 
occurring in the vicinity of Carlisle, Cumberland county, in reference to 
it they say: “Abundant; most so in winter; resident.” 
Dr. Ezra Micliener, in his Chester county list of 1863, records this bird 
as a “resident, frequent; rare in summer.” Dr. Turnbull, in his Birds 
of Eastern Pennsylvania and Neiv Jersey , 1869, says, “common, but 
more frequent in summer; found mostly on the larger trees of the 
forest.” Mr. Gentry, writing in 1877 {Life Histories of Birds), observes 
that he has found a few of these birds in eastern Pennsylvania from No¬ 
vember until the latter part of April. According to my observation, 
the Red-bellied Woodpecker occurs in southeastern Pennsylvania only 
as a rare winter visitant. The few birds observed by myself in this 
locality were exceedingly shy, and when found were seen in tall trees in 
the forests. Mr. T’. L. Neff, of Carlisle, has never observed it in Cum¬ 
berland county, at least his report of the species found there contains 
no mention of it. The only locality in Pennsylvania where the Red- 
bellied Woodpecker has been found breeding during recent years is, so 
far as I can learn, in the county of Washington, along our western bor¬ 
der. I am indebted to Mr. W. T. Warrick, of Washington, Pa., for the 
following interesting facts concerning the species in his localitv : “ This 
bird is not rare here, although not very abundant, and it is resident and 
