WOODPECKERS 
21& 
The nests of the cock-of-the-woods show their power more than 
their borings, for they are cut into the solid trunks of live trees. 
Though well up out of reach they are made conspicuous by half a 
bushel of fresh chips scattered over the ground around the tree. 
The cavity goes back for about six inches and then down a foot and 
a half, and the large white eggs rest on a soft bed of clean fresh 
chips. The same tree is often used year after year, but never the 
same hole. A fresh one is excavated each year and the old ones left 
for occupation by saw-whet owls, wood ducks, and flying squirrels: 
GENUS MELANERPES. 
General Characters. — Bill about as long as head, distinctly curved; 
upper mandible with an evident though short lateral ridge and nasal 
groove, tip of bill more or less wedge-shaped; outer hind toe not longer 
than outer front toe. 
KEY TO ADULT MALES. 
1. Back barred with black and white. 
2. Forehead yellow. aurifrons, p. 218. 
2'. Forehead not yellow. 
3. Middle of belly yellowish. uropygialis, 219. 
3'. Middle of belly reddish. carolinus, p. 218. 
l'.Back not barred. 
2. Belly rose color. torquatus, p. 217. 
2'. Belly white. 
3. Head and neck red. erythrocephalus, p. 215. 
3'. Head with black, red, and white or yellow. 
4. Chest band streaked with white . . formicivorus, p. 216w 
4'. Chest band solid black. bairdi, p. 217. 
Subgenus Melanerpes. 
Colors in large masses; outer hind toe and outer front toe of equal lengths. 
406. Melanerpes erythrocephalus (Linn.). Red-headed 
Woodpecker. 
Adult male. — Whole head and 
neck deep crimson ; under parts, rump, 
and patch on wings, white ; rest of 
upper parts, glossy blue black. Adult 
female: similar, but with more or less 
transverse black spotting on inner sec¬ 
ondaries, and black collar more con¬ 
spicuous than in male. Young: red 
and black of adults replaced by gray, 
streaked with darker on head and 
neck, barred on rest of upper parts; 
secondaries crossed near ends by one 
or more black bands. Length : 9.25- 
9.75, wing 5.30-5.70, tail 3.60-3.75. 
Distribution. — Breeding in Transi¬ 
tion, Upper and Lower Sonoran zones 
from Manitoba south to the Gulf of 
Mexico, and from the Atlantic to the 
From Biological Survey, U. S. Dept, of 
Agriculture. 
Fig. 281. 
