244 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
in quest of worms but the vital juice of the tree—that they 
.suck the sap of fruit trees and so on. These articles indicate 
the lack of close observation—of something definite by which 
we can determine what species of bird they refer to; for all 
-of the spotted Woodpeckers, and even including the Nut- 
liatcher, are by many indiscriminately called Sapsuckers. 
A term so indefinitely applied should either be dropped or 
restricted to one species, the yellow-bellied Woodpecker, which 
not only sucks the sap, but eats the inner bark (liber,) of 
various ornamental, fruit, and forest trees. 
Description. — The 1 7 ellow-bellied Woodpecker, (Ficus 
varius of Naturalists,) is in length 8} inches; expanse of 
wings 15 inches. The whole crown and throat is a rich, deep 
scarlet red, bordered with black. From the nostrils there is a 
white stripe running down the sides of the neck, curving 
slightly around the breast, which has a black spot in the centre. 
Wings black, with an oval spot of whit'e; the primaries tipped 
and spotted with the same. Rump white, bordered with black; 
belly yellow; back dusky yellowish, waved and spotted with 
white. 
The female marked nearly as the male, but wants the scarlet 
throat, which is whitish. 
The young in October have the red mixed and mottled with 
v o 
brown. 
The tongue of this species is quite unlike that of any other 
of our Woodpeckers; the horny tip is very much larger than 
in any other species, of the same size, with which I am ac¬ 
quainted; the point is rounded, unlike the sharp, lancet-like 
tip of the Downy, and Hairy Woodpecker, so well fitted to 
explore for those worms that burrow in trees. The tongue is 
short and stout, admirably adapted for scooping out the inner 
bark and viscid cambium, (the jelly-like substance which is to 
form the new growth, situated between the wood and bark,) on 
which it subsists. 
