Z\0)0) BIRDS—PICID&. 
inner web of central feathers white with black spots, outer web of the same black with 
a white space next the shaft for most of its length; white predominating on the rump. 
Length, 9-10; wing about 5; tail about 24. 
Habitat, Eastern United States to the Rocky Mountains. North rarely to southern 
New England. Canada West. 
Common resident. Breeds. The Red bellied Woodpecker, known to 
many as the “ Zebra Bird,” is the most retiring of all our species. In 
the colder months of the year it is frequently found on the edges of heavy 
woodland and in partially cleared land, less often in fields or near hab- 
itations. In summer, however, it retires to the deepest and most unfre- 
quented forests to breed. Mr. Kirkpatrick, as the result of his observa- 
tions near Cleveland, suggests that it may be a summer resident only in 
Northern Ohio, which would account for their greater abundance, appar- 
ently, in other parts of the State in winter. It does not differ much in 
habits from the Hairy Woodpecker. 
When engaged in hammering for insects, it frequently utters a short 
singular note, which Wilson, who mentions finding the bird at Chilli- 
cothe, Ohio, likens to the bark of small dog. The note is usually twice 
repeated and resembles the hoarse utterance of the syllables chow, chow. 
The nest is excavated in the dead limb or trunk of a high tree. The 
eggs are five, white, and measure 1.02 by .88. 
Genus MELANERPES. Swainson. 
Ridge of upper mandible not extending to tip or commissure of bill. Nostrils broadly 
oval. Outer pair of toes equal. 
MELANERPES ERYTHAOCEPHALUS (L.) Sw. 
WWed-headed WV codpecker. 
¥ 
Picus erythrocephalus, KiInTLAND, Ohio Geolog. Sury., 1838, 122.—REap, Proc. Phila 
Acad. Nat. Sci., vi, 1853, 395. 
Melanerpes erythrocephalus, KIRKPATRICK, Ohio Farmer, ix, 1860, 339.—WHEATON, Ohio 
Agric. Rep. for 1860, 362, 373; Reprint, 1861, 4, 15; Food of Birds, etc., Ohio Agric. 
Rep. for 1874, 569; Reprint, 1875, 9 —LANGDON, Cat. Birds of Cin., 1877, 11; Revised 
List, Journ. Cin. Soc. Nat. Hist., i, 1879, 1738; Reprint, 12; Summer Birds, ib., iii., 
1880, £25. 
Red-headed Woodpecker, BALLou, Field and Forest, iii, 1878, 174. 
Picus erythrocephalus, LINNZUS, Syst. Nat., i, 1766, 174. 
Melanerpes erythrocephalus, SWAINSON, Fn. Bor. Am., ii, 1831, 316. 
Glossy blue-black ; rump, secondaries and under parts from the breast pure white ; 
primaries and tail feathers black; whole head, neck and breast crimson in both sexes, 
grayish-brown in the young; about 9; wing, 54; tail, 34. 
Habitat, Temperate North America to the Rocky Mountains. Now rare in New Eng- 
land. Utah. California. 
