Chapter 52

Illustration: Hylotomus pileatusHylotomus pileatus.Sp. Char.Fourth and fifth quills equal and longest; third intermediate between sixth and seventh. Bill blue-black; more horn-color beneath. General color of body, wings, and tail dull greenish-black. A narrow white streak from just above the eye to the occiput; a wider one from the nostril feathers (inclusive), under the eye and along the side of the head and neck; sides of the breast (concealed by the wing), axillaries, and under wing-coverts, and concealed bases of all the quills, with chin and beneath the head, white, tinged with sulphur-yellow. Entire crown from the base of the bill to a well-developed occipital crest, as also a patch on the ramus of the lower jaw, scarlet-red. A few faint white crescents on the sides of the body and on the abdomen. Longer primaries generally tipped with white. Length, about 18.00; wing, 9.50.Femalewithout the red on the cheek, and the anterior half of that on the top of the head replaced by black.Hab.Wooded parts of North America from Atlantic to Pacific. Localities: E. Texas (not Rio Grande!), (Dresser, Ibis, 1865, 469, breeds).Specimens of this species from Fort Liard in the Northern Rocky Mountains, and from Puget Sound region, are nearly four inches longer than those from the Southern Atlantic States, and are scarcely exceeded in size by the Ivory-billed Woodpecker.Specimens from the northwest coast region (Columbia River, BritishColumbia, etc.) have no trace of the white spots on ends of outer primaries, always found in eastern specimens.Habits.No member of this large family has a wider distribution than the Pileated Woodpecker, extending from the Gulf of Mexico to the extremest limits of the northern forests, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific. It seems to be a resident everywhere but in its extreme northern localities, rather than a migratory species. There are specimens in the Smithsonian collection from Nelson River, on the north, toSt.Johns River, Florida, on the south, and from Pennsylvania on the east to the Rio Grande and the Columbia on the west. Sir John Richardson (Fauna Boreali-Americana,II, p.304) speaks of it as resident all the year in the interior of the fur countries, up to the62dor63dparallels, rarely appearing near Hudson’s Bay, but frequenting the gloomiest recesses of the forests that skirt the Rocky Mountains. Dr. Woodhouse, in his Report on the natural history of the expedition down the Zuñi and the Colorado Rivers, speaks of this Woodpecker as having been found abundant in the Indian Territory, Texas, and New Mexico. Neither Dr. Gambel nor Dr. Heermann give it in their lists of the birds of California, nor does Dr. Newberry mention meeting with it in his Report of the zoölogy of his route. Dr. Suckley, however, speaks of the Log-Cock as abundant in the vicinity of Fort Steilacoom, Washington Territory, during summer, and Dr. Cooper also mentions it as an abundant and constant resident in the forests of the Territory. I have occasionally met with it in the wilder portions of New Hampshire and Maine, but have nowhere been so fortunate as to observe its nest or its breeding-habits. It has always seemed a very shy bird, difficult of approach, always keeping at a safe distance, and ever greeting your attempts for a nearer view with a loud, cackling cry, not unlike a derisive laugh.According to the observations of Wilson, their eggs are deposited in the hole of a tree dug out by themselves, no other materials being used but the soft chips of rotten wood. The female lays six eggs, of a snowy whiteness, and they are said to raise two broods in a season.Mr. Audubon states that it almost always breeds in the interior of the forest, and frequently on trees placed in deep swamps over the water, appearing to give a preference to the southern side of the tree, on which side the hole is usually found to which they retreat in the winter and during stormy weather. The hole is sometimes bored perpendicularly, but occasionally in the form of that of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker. The usual depth is from twelve to eighteen inches, the breadth from two and a half to three, and at the bottom five or six. He believed they raise but a single brood in a season. The young follow their parents a long while, sometimes until the return of spring.Rev. Dr. Bachman gives an interesting account of a pair of Pileated Woodpeckers building a nest in an old elm-tree in a swamp, and occupying it the first year. Early the next spring two Bluebirds took possession ofit, and there had young. Before they were half grown the Woodpeckers returned to the place, and, despite the cries and reiterated attacks of the Bluebirds, took out the young and carried them away to some distance. Next, the nest itself was disposed of, the hole cleaned and enlarged, and there they raised their brood. The tree was large, but so situated that Dr. Bachman could reach the nest from the branches of another. The hole was eighteen inches deep, and he could touch the bottom with his hand. The eggs, six in number, were laid on fragments of chips expressly left by the birds, and were large, white, and translucent. Before the Woodpeckers began to sit, he robbed them of their eggs to see if they would lay a second time. They waited a few days as if undecided, and then he heard the female at work again, deepening the hole and making it broader at the bottom. She soon recommenced laying, this time depositing five eggs. He suffered her to bring out her young, both birds alternately incubating, and each visiting the other at intervals, looking in at the hole to see if all were right and well there, and flying off afterwards in search of food. When the young were old enough, he took them home and endeavored to raise them. Three died, refusing all food. With two he was more successful. But even these he found untamable and destructive and troublesome pets, which he was at last glad to release.Dr. Cooper, who observed this species in Washington Territory, discovered a pair early in April on Whitby’s Island, burrowing out a hole for their nest in a dead trunk, about thirty feet from the ground. They worked alternately, and were very watchful, keeping perfectly silent while they heard any noise near by. He found the place by noticing chips on the bushes below, and after watching silently for some time, one of them began to work, now and then protruding its bill full of chips, and, after cautiously looking round, dropping them.According to Mr. C. S. Paine, of Randolph,Vt., the Pileated Woodpecker is very rare in Vermont, and extremely shy. It is difficult to approach one nearer than from fifteen to twenty rods, except by surprise. He adds that in only a single instance has he been able to shoot one. This fell with a broken wing. Before he could reach it, the bird commenced climbing a tree, and nearly escaped. When overtaken, it fought furiously, and wounded Mr. Paine severely in the hand, setting up at the same time a loud outcry, not unlike that of a domestic hen. He has never met with its nest, although he has several times seen the young when just able to leave it. The elder Mr. Paine states that, some fifty years previous, this species was abundant in Vermont, and not at all timid, and is of the opinion that their present shyness is all that exempts them from extermination.Mr. Dresser found this Woodpecker resident and quite numerous in Texas near all the large rivers, where the timber is heavy. A few were seen on the Medina, and their eggs obtained there, but they were not abundant in that district. On the Colorado and Brazos Rivers these birds were very common,and Mr. Dresser found several nests in huge cottonwood-trees, but had no means of getting to them.Mr. J. K. Lord assigns to this species a wide western range, being common both east and west of the Cascades, and on the west slope of the Rocky Mountains. He met with it north as far as Fort Rupert in Vancouver Island, and south through Oregon and California. He found them at Colville during the winter. He states that they nest in May, generally in a tall dead pine-tree, at a great height.For my first specimens of the eggs of this species I am under obligations to Dr. Cornelius Kollock, of Cheraw,S. C.They were obtained by him from excavations made in large trees at the height of about twenty-five feet from the ground, and in localities at no great distance from the inhabited parts of the country.The eggs of this species from South Carolina and Florida are of a very brilliant crystalline whiteness, of a rounded-oval shape, and measure 1.25 inches in length by 1.02 in breadth. Northern specimens are probably larger.SectionCENTUREÆ.The United States genera of this section are very similar to each other, and may be most easily distinguished by color, as follows:—Centurus.Back and wings banded transversely with black and white. Crown more or less red; rest of head with under parts grayish, and with red or yellow tinge on the middle of the abdomen. Rump white.Melanerpes.Upper parts uniform black, without bands, with or without a white rump; variable beneath, but without transverse bands.GenusCENTURUS,Swainson.Centurus,Sw.Class. Birds, II, 1837, 310. (Type,C. carolinus.)Zebrapicus,Malh.Mém. Acad. Metz, 1849, 360. (Type,C. carolinus.)Gen. Char.Bill about the length of the head, or a little longer; decidedly compressed, except at the extreme base. A lateral ridge starting a little below the culmen at the base of the bill, and angular for half the length of the bill, then becoming obsolete, though traceable nearly to the tip. Culmen considerably curved from the base; gonys nearly straight. Nostrils very broad, elliptical; situated about midway on the side of the mandible, near the base; partly concealed. Outer pairs of toes unequal, the anterior toe longest. Wings long, broad; third to fifth primaries equal and longest. Tail-feathers rather narrow, stiffened.The species are all banded above transversely with black and white; the rump white. The head and under parts are brown, or grayish, the latter sometimes much the lighter. The belly with a red or yellow tinge. The under tail-coverts with V-shaped dark marks. The North American species ofCenturusmay be arranged as follows:—C. carolinus.Middle of belly reddish; whole crown and nape red in male. Nape, only, red in female.Forehead reddish; beneath soiled ashy-white; abdomen pinkish-red; crissum with sagittate marks of dusky. Wing, 5.25; tail, 3.80; bill, 1.30.Hab.Eastern Province United States …var.carolinus.Forehead smoky-white; beneath smoky-olive, middle of abdomen carmine-red; crissum with broad transverse bars of dusky. Wing, 4.50; tail, 2.60; bill, 1.08.Hab.Central America; Venezuela …var.tricolor.[129]C. aurifrons.Middle of belly yellowish; red of crown, in male, confined to an ovoid vertical patch. Nape and forehead gamboge-yellow; white of rump and upper tail-coverts immaculate.Femalewithout any red on the crown.Inner webs of middle tail-feathers unvariegated black. Lower parts dirty ashy-whitish, abdomen dilute gamboge-yellow. Wing, 5.20; tail, 3.60; bill, 1.50.Hab.Eastern Mexico, north to the Rio Grande …var.aurifrons.Inner webs of middle tail-feathers spotted with white. Lower parts smoky-olive, belly bright orange-yellow. Wing, 4.70; tail, 2.80; bill, 1.16.Hab.Costa Rica …var.hoffmanni.[130]C. uropygialis.Middle of the belly yellowish. Nape and forehead soft smoky grayish-brown.Femalewithout red or yellow on head. White of rump and upper tail-coverts with transverse dusky bars. Inner webs of middle tail-feathers spotted with white. Wing, 5.30; tail, 3.70; bill, 1.35.Hab.Western Mexico, north into Colorado, region of Middle Province of United States.Illustration: Color plate 52PLATELII.Illustration: Color plate 52 detail 11.Centurus carolinus.♂Pa., 868.Illustration: Color plate 52 detail 22.Centurus uropygialis.♂Ariz., 6128.Illustration: Color plate 52 detail 33.Centurus aurifrons.♂Texas, 6121.Illustration: Color plate 52 detail 44.Centurus carolinus.♀6118.Illustration: Color plate 52 detail 55.Centurus uropygialis.♀Ariz.Illustration: Color plate detail6.Centurus aurifrons.♀Texas.Centurus carolinus,Bonap.RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER.Picus carolinus,Linn.Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 174.—Wilson,Am. Orn. I, 1808, 113,pl. vii, f.2.—Aud.Orn. Biog. V, 1839, 169,pl. ccccxv.—Ib.BirdsAmer. IV, 1842, 270,pl. cclxx.—Max.Cab. Jour.1858, 418.—Sundevall,Consp.53.Centurus carolinus,Sw. Bp.List, 1838.—Ib.Conspectus,Av.1850, 119.—Baird,Birds N. Am.109.—Cab.Jour.1862, 324.—Dresser, Ibis, 1865, 469 (resident in Texas).—Scl.Cat.1862, 342.—Gray,Cat.99.—Allen,B. E. Fla.306.Centurus carolinensis,Sw.Birds,II, 1837, 310 (error).Picus griseus,Vieill.Ois. Am. Sept. II, 1807, 52,pl. cxvi.? Picus erythrauchen,Wagler,Syst.Avium, 1827.Picus zebra,Boddært,Tabl. pl. enl. (Gray, genera).Sp. Char.Third, fourth, and fifth quills nearly equal, and longest; second, or outermost, and seventh about equal. Top of the 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-covert 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 theinner web; the outer web with a stripe of white along the middle. Length, 9.75; wing, about 5.00. Female with the crown ashy; forehead pale red; nape bright red.Illustration: Centurus carolinusCenturus carolinus.865♂Hab.North America, from Atlantic coast to the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains. Localities: Texas (Dresser, Ibis, 1865, 469, resident).Specimens vary considerably in size (with latitude), and in the tinge of reddish on chin, breast, etc. The width of the dorsal bands differs in different specimens. The rump is banded; upper tail-coverts are generally immaculate, but are sometimes dashed with black. Specimens from the Mississippi Valley are generally more brightly colored than those from the Atlantic States, the lower parts more strongly tinged with red. Florida examples are smaller than northern ones, the black bars broader, the lower parts deeper ashy and strongly tinged with red, but of a more purplish shade than in western ones.Illustration: Centurus carolinusCenturus carolinus.Habits.The Red-bellied Woodpecker is distributed throughout North America, from the Atlantic Coast to the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains. It is, however, much more abundant in the more southern and western portions. In the collections of the Smithsonian Institution none are recorded from farther north than Pennsylvania on the east and Nebraska Territory on the west, while others were obtained as far south as Florida. Nor am I aware that it is found, except very rarely, north of Pennsylvania on the Atlantic coast. I have never met with it in Eastern Massachusetts, although Mr. Audubon speaks of it as breeding from Maryland to Nova Scotia. Dr. Woodhouse found it common in the Indian Territory and in Texas. Wilson speaks of having found it abundant in Upper Canada, and in the northern parts of the State of New York. He also refers to its inhabiting the whole Atlantic States as far as Georgia and the southern extremity of Florida. Its absence in Eastern Massachusetts was noticed by Mr. Nuttall. It is not given by Thompson or Paine asone of the birds of Vermont, nor does Lieutenant Bland mention it as one of the birds of Nova Scotia, and it is not included by Sir John Richardson in theFauna Boreali-Americana.Mr. Audubon speaks of it as generally more confined to the interior of forests than the Hairy Woodpecker, especially during the breeding-season. He further states that he never met with its nest in Louisiana or South Carolina, but that it was not rare in Kentucky, and that, from the State of Maryland to Nova Scotia, it breeds in all convenient places, usually more in the woods than out of them. He also states that he has found the nests in orchards in Pennsylvania, generally not far from the junction of a branch with the trunk. He describes the hole as bored in the ordinary manner. The eggs are seldom more than four in number, and measure 1.06 inches in length and .75 of an inch in breadth. They are of an elliptical form, smooth, pure white, and translucent. They are not known to raise more than one brood in a season.Wilson speaks of this species as more shy and less domestic than the Red-headed or any of the other spotted Woodpeckers, and also as more solitary. He adds that it prefers the largest high-timbered woods and the tallest decayed trees of the forest, seldom appearing near the ground, on the fences, or in orchards or open fields. In regard to their nesting, he says that the pair, in conjunction, dig out a circular cavity for the nest in the lower side of some lofty branch that makes a considerable angle with the horizon. Sometimes they excavate this in the solid wood, but more generally in a hollow limb, some fifteen inches above where it becomes solid. This is usually done early in April. The female lays five eggs, of a pure white, or almost semi-transparent. The young generally make their appearance towards the latter part of May. Wilson was of the opinion that they produced two broods in a season.Mr. Dresser found this bird resident and abundant in Texas. It is also equally abundant in Louisiana and in Florida, and Mr. Ridgway considers it very common in Southern Illinois. Neither Mr. Boardman nor Mr. Verrill have found it in Maine. Mr. McIlwraith has, however, taken three specimens at Hamilton, Canada West, May 3, near Chatham. Mr. Allen gives it as a summer visitant in Western Massachusetts, having seen one on the 13th of May, 1863. It has also been taken several times in Connecticut, by Professor Emmons, who met with it, during the breeding-season, in the extreme western part of the State. Mr. Lawrence has found it near New York City, and Mr. Turnbull in Eastern Pennsylvania.The eggs vary from an oblong to a somewhat rounded oval shape, are of a bright crystalline whiteness, and their measurements average 1.02 inches in length by .88 of an inch in breadth.Centurus aurifrons,Gray.YELLOW-BELLIED WOODPECKER.Picus aurifrons,Wagler, Isis, 1829, 512.—Sundevall,Consp. Pic.53.Centurus aurifrons,Gray, Genera.—Cabanis,Jour.1862, 323.—Cooper,Orn. Cal.1, 1870, 399.Centurus flaviventris,Swainson,Anim. in Menag.1838 (2½ centenaries), 354.—Baird,Birds N. Am.1858, 110,pl. xlii.—Heermann,P. R. Rep. X, c, 18.—Dresser, Ibis, 1865, 469 (resident in Texas).—Ib.Rep. Mex. Bound. II, 5,pl. iv.Centurus elegans,Lawrence,Ann. N. Y. Lyc. V, May, 1851, 116.Centurus santacruzi,Lawrence,Ann. N. Y. Lyc. V, 1851, 123 (not ofBonap.).Picus ornatus,Less.Rev. Zoöl.1839, 102.Sp. Char.Fourth and fifth quills nearly equal; third a little shorter; longer than the fourth. Back banded transversely with black and white; rump and upper tail-coverts pure white. Crown with a subquadrate spot of crimson, about half an inch wide and long; and separated from the gamboge-yellow at the base of the bill by dirty white, from the orbit and occiput by brownish-ash. Nape half-way round the neck orange-yellow. Under part generally, and sides of head, dirty white. Middle of belly gamboge-yellow. Tail-feathers all entirely black, except the outer, which has some obscure bars of white. Length about 9.50; wing, 5.00. Female without the red of the crown.Hab.Rio Grande region of the United States, south into Mexico. Probably Arizona. Localities: Orizaba (Scl.P. Z. S.1860, 252); Texas, south of San Antonio (Dresser, Ibis, 1865, 469, resident).Young birds are not different from adults, except in showing indication of dark shaft-lines beneath, becoming broader behind on the sides. The yellow of the nape extends over the whole side of the head.Habits.This beautiful Woodpecker is abundant throughout the valley of the Rio Grande, from Eagle Pass to its mouth; how far to the west within our boundaries it occurs, I am not able to state. It is common throughout Mexico, and was found in the Guatemalan collection of Van Patten, though not mentioned by Sclater and Salvin. Dr. Woodhouse, in his Report on the zoölogy of Captain Sitgreaves’s expedition, speaks of finding it quite abundant in the neighborhood of San Antonio, Texas. He adds that west of the Rio San Pedro he did not meet with it. He speaks of it as having a loud, sharp cry, which it utters as it flies from tree to tree. He observed it mostly on the trunks of the mesquite (Algarobia), diligently searching in the usual manner of Woodpeckers. In the Report upon the birds of the Mexican Boundary Survey, it is mentioned by Mr. Clark as abundant on the Lower Rio Grande, as very shy, and as keeping chiefly about the mesquite. Lieutenant Couch speaks of it as very common throughout Tamaulipas.Mr. Dresser found the Yellow-bellied Woodpecker plentiful from the Rio Grande to San Antonio, and as far north and east as the Guadaloupe, after which he lost sight of it. Wherever the mesquite-trees were large, there it was sure to be found, and very sparingly elsewhere. Near San Antonio it is quite common, but not so much so as theC. carolinus. At Eagle Pass, however, it was the more abundant of the two. He found itbreeding near San Antonio, boring for its nest-hole into a mesquite-tree. Mr. Dresser was informed by Dr. Heermann, who has seen many of their nests, that he never found them in any other tree.These birds were found breeding by Dr. Berlandier, and his collection. contained quite a number of their eggs. Nothing was found among his papers in relation to their habits or their manner of breeding. Their eggs, procured by him, are of an oblong-oval shape, and measure 1.05 inches in length by .85 of an inch in breadth.Centurus uropygialis,Baird.GILA WOODPECKER.Centurus uropygialis,Baird,Pr. A. N. Sc. Ph. VII, June, 1854, 120 (Bill Williams River,N. M.)—Ib.Birds N. Am.1858,III, pl. xxxvi.—Cab.Jour.1862, 330.—Sundevall,Consp.54.—Kennerly,P. R. R. X, bpl. xxxvi.—Heermann,X, c, 17.Coues,Pr. Avi.1866, 54 (S.Arizona).—Cooper,Orn. Cal.1, 1870, 399.Centurus hypopolius, (Bp.)Pucheran,Rev. et Mag.1853, 163 (notPicus (Centurus) hypopolius,Wagler).Zebrapicus kaupii,Malherbe, 1855.—Gray,Catal.Br. Mex.Centurus sulfureiventer,Reichenbach, Handbuch, Picinæ,Oct.1854, 410, figs. 4411, 4412.Sp. Char.Third, fourth, and fifth quills longest, and about equal. Back, rump, and upper tail-coverts transversely barred with black and white, purest on the two latter. Head and neck all round pale dirty-brown, or brownish-ash, darkest above. A small subquadrate patch of red on the middle of the crown, separated from the bill by dirty white. Middle of the abdomen gamboge-yellow; under tail-coverts and anal region strongly barred with black. First and second outer tail-feathers banded black and white, as is also the inner web of the inner tail-feather; the outer web of the latter with a white stripe. Length, about 9.00; wing, 5.00. Female with the head uniform brownish-ash, without any red or yellow.Hab.Lower Colorado River of the West, to CapeSt.Lucas. South to Mazatlan. Localities: W. Arizona (Coues,P. A. N. S.1866, 54).Habits.This species was first discovered by Dr. Kennerly in his route along the 35th parallel, and described by Professor Baird, in 1854. The Doctor encountered it almost continually during the entire march along the Big Sandy, Bill Williams Fork, and the Great Colorado; but it was so very shy that he had great difficulty in procuring specimens. Seated in the top of the tree, it was ever on guard; and, upon the approach of danger, flew away, accompanying its flight with the utterance of very peculiar notes. Its flight was in an undulating line, like that of other birds of this class.Dr. Heermann found this Woodpecker abundant on the banks of the Gila River among the mesquite-trees. The giant cactus, often forty feet high, which grows abundantly on the arid hillsides throughout that whole section of country, was frequently found filled with holes bored out by this bird. The pith of the plant is extracted until a chamber of suitable size is obtained, when the juice exuding from the wounded surface hardens, and forms a smooth dry coating to the cavity, thus making a convenientplace for the purposes of incubation. At Tucson, in Arizona, he found it frequenting the cornfields, where it might be seen alighting on the old hedge-posts in search of insects. Its note, he adds, resembles very much that of the Red-headed Woodpecker. He afterwards met with this bird in California, in considerable numbers, on the Colorado. Besides its ordinary notes, resembling those of theMelanerpes erythrocephalus, it varies them with a soft plaintive cry, as if hurt or wounded. He found their stomachs filled with the white gelatinous berry of a parasitic plant which grows abundantly on the mesquite-trees, and the fruit of which forms the principal food of many species of birds during the fall.Dr. Coues gives this bird as rare and probably accidental in the immediate vicinity of Fort Whipple, but as a common bird in the valleys of the Gila and of the Lower Colorado, where it has the local name ofSuwarrow, orSaguaro, on account of its partiality for the large cactuses, with the juice of which plant its plumage is often found stained.Dr. Cooper found this Woodpecker abundant in winter at Fort Mohave, when they feed chiefly on the berries of the mistletoe, and are very shy. He rarely saw them pecking at the trees, but they seemed to depend for a living on insects, which were numerous on the foliage during the spring. They have a loud note of alarm, strikingly similar to that of thePhainopepla nitens, which associated with them in the mistletoe-boughs.About the 25th of March he found them preparing their nests in burrows near the dead tops of trees, none of them, so far as he saw, being accessible. By the last of May they had entirely deserted the mistletoe, and were probably feeding their young on insects.GenusMELANERPES,Swainson.Melanerpes,Swainson,F. B. A. II, 1831. (Type,Picus erythrocephalus.)Melampicus(Section 3),Malherbe,Mém. Ac.Metz, 1849, 365.Asyndesmus,Coues,Pr. A. N. S.1866, 55. (Type,Picus torquatus.)Gen. Char.Bill about equal to the head; broader than high at the base, but becoming compressed immediately anterior to the commencement of the gonys. Culmen and gonys with a moderately decided angular ridge; both decidedly curved from the very base. A rather prominent acute ridge commences at the base of the mandible, a little below the ridge of the culmen, and proceeds but a short distance anterior to the nostrils (about one third of the way), when it sinks down, and the bill is then smooth. The lateral outlines are gently concave from the basal two thirds; then gently convex to the tip, which does not exhibit any abrupt bevelling. Nostrils open, broadly oval; not concealed by the feathers, nor entirely basal. Fork of chin less than half lower jaw. The outer pair of toes equal. Wings long, broad; lengthened. Tail-feathers broad, with lengthened points.The species all have the back black, without any spots or streaks anywhere.Illustration: Melanerpes erythrocephalusMelanerpes erythrocephalus.883♀Dr. Coues placesM. torquatusin a new genus,Asyndesmus, characterized by a peculiar texture of the under part and nuchal collar, in which thefibres are disconnected on their terminal portion, enlarged and stiffened, almost bristle-like; otherwise the characters are much as inMelanerpes. It should, however, be noted, that the feathers of the red portion of the head in the other species have the same texture.Species and Varieties.A.Sexes similar.Youngvery different from the adult.M. torquatus.Feathers of the lower parts, as well as of frontal, lateral, and under portions of the head, with the fibres bristle-like. (Asyndesmus,Coues.) Upper parts wholly uniform, continuous, very metallic blackish-green.Adult.Forehead, lores, cheeks, and chin deep crimson, of a burnt-carmine tint; jugulum, breast, and a ring entirely around the nape, grayish-white; abdomen light carmine. Back glossed with purplish-bronze.Youngwithout the red of the head, and lacking the grayish nuchal collar; abdomen only tinged with red, no purple or bronze tints above. Wing, 6.70; tail, 4.50.Hab.Western Province of the United States, from the Black Hills to the Pacific.M. erythrocephalus.Feathers generally soft, blended; those of the whole head and neck with stiffened and bristle-like fibres in the adult. Secondaries, rump, and upper tail-coverts, with whole lower parts from the neck, continuous pure white. Two lateral tail-feathers tipped with white.Adult.Whole head and neck bright venous-crimson or blood-red, with a black convex posterior border across the jugulum; back, wings, and tail glossy blue-black.Young.Head and neck grayish, streaked with dusky; back and scapulars grayish, spotted with black; secondaries with two or three black bands; breast tinged with grayish, and with sparse dusky streaks. Wing, 5.90; tail, 3.90.Hab.Eastern Province of the United States, west to the Rocky Mountains.B.Sexes dissimilar; young like the adult.M. formicivorus.Forehead and a broad crescent across the middle of the throat (the two areas connected by a narrow strip across the lore), white, more or less tinged with sulphur-yellow. Rump, upper tail-coverts, abdomen,sides, and crissum, with patch on base of primaries, pure white, the sides and breast with black streaks. Other portions glossy blue-black.♂. Whole crown and nape carmine.♀with the occiput and nape alone red.More than the anterior half of the pectoral band immaculate.♀with the white frontal, black coronal, and red occipital bands of about equal width. Forehead and throat only slightly tinged with sulphur-yellow. Wing, 5.80; tail, 3.90; bill, 1.27.Hab.Pacific Province of United States, and Northern and Western Mexico…var.formicivorus.♀with the white frontal band only about half as wide as the black coronal, which is only about half as wide as the red occipital, band or patch. Forehead and throat bright sulphur-yellow. Wing, 5.40; tail, 3.65; bill, 1.23.Hab.Lower California …var.angustifrons.Nearly the whole of the black pectoral band variegated with white streaks.Relative width of the white, black, and red areas on the crown as informicivorus. Wing, 5.50; tail, 3.75; bill, 1.22.Hab.Middle America, south of Orizaba and Mirador …var.striatipectus.[131]♂. Nape, only, red (as in females of preceding races);♀without any red.Whole breast streaked, the black and white being in about equal amount. Wing, 5.70; tail, 3.90; bill, 1.20.Hab.New Granada …var.flavigula.[132]Melanerpes torquatus,Bonap.LEWIS’S WOODPECKER.Picus torquatus,Wilson,Am. Orn. III, 1811, 31,pl. xx.—Wagler,Syst. Av.1827,No.82.—Aud.Orn. Biog. V, 1839, 176,pl. ccccxvi.—Ib.BirdsAmer. IV, 1842, 280,pl. cclxxii.—Sundevall,Consp.51.Melanerpes torquatus,Bp.Consp.1850, 115.—Heermann,J. A. N. Sc. Phil.2d ser. II, 1853, 270.—Newberry,Zoöl. Cal. & Or.Route, 90, inP. R. R. Surv. VI, 1857.—Baird,Birds N. Am.115.—Cooper & Suckley, 161.—Cassin.Pr. A. N. S.1863, 327.—Lord,Pr. R. A. Inst.IV, 1864, 112 (nesting).—Cooper,Orn. Cal.1, 1870, 406.Picus montanus,Ord.in Guthrie’sGeog. 2d Am. ed. II, 1815, 316.Picus lewisii,Drapiez.(Gray.)Asyndesmus torquatus,Coues,Pr. A. N. S.1866, 55.Sp. Char.Feathers on the under parts bristle-like. Fourth quill longest; then third and fifth. Above dark glossy-green. Breast, lower part of the neck, and a narrow collar all round, hoary grayish-white. Around the base of the bill and sides of the head tobehind the eyes, dark crimson. Belly blood-red, streaked finely with hoary whitish. Wings and tail entirely uniform dark glossy-green. Female similar. Length about 10.50; wing, 6.50. Young without the nuchal collar, and the red of head replaced by black.Hab.Western America from Black Hills to Pacific.The peculiarities in the feathers of the under parts have already been adverted to. This structure appears to be essentially connected with the red feathers, since these have the same texture in the other species of the genus, wherever the color occurs. The remark may perhaps apply generally to the red feathers of most, if not all, Woodpeckers, and may be connected with some chemical or physical condition yet to be determined.Habits.Lewis’s Woodpecker would seem to have a distribution throughout the Pacific Coast, from the sea-shore to the mountains, and from Puget Sound to the Gulf of California, and extending to the eastern border of the Great Plains, within the limits of the United States. They were first observed by Messrs. Lewis and Clarke, in their memorable journey to the Pacific. Subsequently Mr. Nuttall met with them in his westward journey, in the central chain of the Rocky Mountains. This was in the month of July. Among the cedar and pine woods of Bear River, on the edge of Upper California, he found them inhabiting the decayed trunks of the pine-trees, and already feeding their young. Afterwards, at the close of August, he met them in flocks on the plains, sixty miles up the Wahlamet. He describes them as very unlike Woodpeckers in their habits, perching in dense flocks, like Starlings, neither climbing branches nor tapping in the manner of their tribe, but darting after insects and devouring berries, like Thrushes. He saw them but seldom, either in the dense forests of the Columbia or in any settled part of California.Townsend speaks of their arriving about the first of May on Bear River and the Columbia. Both sexes incubate, according to his observations.Dr. Gambel first observed this Woodpecker in a belt of oak timber near the Mission ofSt.Gabriel, in California, and states that it was abundant. He also describes its habits as peculiar, and unlike the generality of Woodpeckers. Dr. Heermann, too, speaks of finding it in all the parts of California which he visited. Dr. Newberry, in his Notes on the zoölogy of Lieutenant Williamson’s expedition, refers to it as most unlike the California Woodpecker in the region it occupies and in its retiring habits. He describes it as seeming to choose, for its favorite haunts, the evergreen forests upon the rocky declivities of the Cascade and Rocky Mountains. He first observed it in Northern California, but subsequently noticed it in the mountains all the way to the Columbia. Though often seen in low elevations, it was evidently alpine in its preferences, and was found most frequently near the line of perpetual snow; and when crossing the snow lines, in the mountain-passes, it was often observed flying far above the party. He describes it as being always shy, and difficult to shoot.Dr. S. W. Woodhouse describes this species as being common in the IndianTerritory and in New Mexico; while Dr. Cooper, in his Report on the zoölogy of Washington Territory, speaks of it as being common, during summer, in all the interior districts, but seldom or never approaching the coast. It arrives at Puget Sound early in May, and some even remain, during mild winters, in the Territory. According to his account, it burrows holes for its nests at all heights from the ground, but commonly in dead trees. The eggs are described as pure white, and, when fresh, translucent, like those of all the Woodpecker tribe, and hardly distinguishable in size and general appearance from those of the Golden-winged Woodpecker (Colaptes auratus). Its harsh call is rarely uttered in summer, when it seems to seek concealment for itself and nest. The flocks of young, which in fall associate together to the number of eight or ten, are more noisy. Dr. Suckley, in the same Report (page 162), speaks of this Woodpecker as being very abundant throughout the more open portions of the timbered region of the northwest coast, preferring oak openings and groves. At Fort Dalles, on the Columbia, they are extremely numerous, not only breeding there during summer, but also found as winter residents. Their breeding-places are generally holes in oak and other trees, which, from the appearance of all he examined, seemed to have been excavated for the purpose. At Puget Sound this species was found less frequently than at Fort Dalles, on the Columbia. At the latter place they were constant winter residents. Dr. Suckley also speaks of them as being semi-gregarious in their habits.Mr. Lord thinks that this Woodpecker is not to be met with west of the Cascade Mountains, but says it is very often found between the Cascades and the Rocky Mountains, where it frequents the open timber. The habits and modes of flight of this bird, he states, are not the least like a Woodpecker’s. It flies with a heavy flapping motion, much like a Jay, feeds a good deal on the ground, and chases insects on the wing like a Shrike or a Kingbird. Whilst mating they assemble in large numbers, and keep up a continual, loud, chattering noise. They arrive at Colville in April, begin nesting in May, and leave again in October. The nest is in a hole in a dead pine-tree, usually at a considerable height from the ground.Dr. Coues says this bird is very common at Fort Whipple, in Arizona, where it remained in moult until November.Mr. J. A. Allen found this the most numerous of thePicidæin Colorado Territory. He also states that it differs considerably in its habits from all the other Woodpeckers. He frequently noticed it rising high into the air almost vertically, and to a great height, apparently in pursuit of insects, and descending again as abruptly, to repeat the same manœuvre. It was met with by Mr. Ridgway in the Sacramento Valley, along the eastern base of the Sierra Nevada, and in the East Humboldt Mountains. In the first-mentioned locality it was the most abundant Woodpecker, and inhabited the scattered oaks of the plains. In the second region it was very abundant—perhaps more so than any other species—among the scattered pines alongthe very base of the eastern slope; and in the last-mentioned place was observed on a few occasions among the tall aspens bordering the streams in the lower portions of the cañons. In its habits it is described as approaching most closely to our common Red-headed Woodpecker (M. erythrocephalus), but possessing many very distinctive peculiarities. In the character of its notes it quite closely approximates to our common Redhead, but they are weaker and of a more twittering character; and in its lively playful disposition it even exceeds it. It has a very peculiar and characteristic habit of ascending high into the air, and taking a strange, floating flight, seemingly laborious, as if struggling against the wind, and then descending in broad circles to the trees.The eggs are more spherical than are usually those of theColaptes auratus, are of a beautiful crystalline whiteness, and measure 1.10 inches in length and .92 of an inch in breadth.Melanerpes erythrocephalus,Swainson.RED-HEADED WOODPECKER.Picus erythrocephalus,Linn.Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 174.—Vieillot,Ois. Am. Sept. II, 1807, 60,pl. cxii, cxiii.—Wilson,Am. Orn. I, 1810, 142,pl. ix, fig. 1.—Wagler,Syst. Av.1827,No.14.—Ib.Isis, 1829, 518 (young).—Aud.Orn. Biog. I, 1832, 141;V, 536,pl. xxvii.—Ib.Birds America,IV, 1842, 274,pl. cclxxi.—Max.Cab. J. VI, 1858, 419.Melanerpes erythrocephalus,Sw.F. B. A. II, 1831, 316.—Bon.List, 1838.—Ib.Conspectus, 1850, 115.—Gambel,J. Ac. Nat. Sc. Ph.2d ser. I, 1847, 55.—Baird,Birds N. Am.1858, 113.—Scl.Cat.1862, 340.—Samuels, 102.—Cooper,Orn. Cal.1, 1870, 402.—Allen,B. E. Fla.307.Picus obscurus,Gm.I, 1788, 429 (young).—Red-headed Woodpecker,Pennant,Kalm,Latham.White-rumped Woodpecker,Latham.Sp. Char.Head and neck all round crimson-red, margined by a narrow crescent of black on the upper part of the breast. Back, primary quills, and tail bluish-black. Under parts generally, a broad band across the middle of the wing, and the rump, white. The female is not different. Length, about 9.75; wing, 5.50. Bill bluish-white, darker terminally; iris chestnut; feet olive-gray. Young without any red, the head and neck being grayish streaked with dusky; breast with an ashy tinge, and streaked sparsely with dusky; secondaries with two or three bands of black; dorsal region clouded with grayish.Hab.Eastern Province of United States to base of Rocky Mountains, sometimes straggling westward to coast of California (Gambel). Salt Lake City, Utah (Ridgway). Otherlocalities: Nueces to Brazos, Texas (Dresser, Ibis, 1865, 469, breeds).Western specimens frequently have the abdomen strongly tinged with salmon-red, or orange-red, and are generally more deeply colored than eastern.Habits.The Red-headed Woodpecker is one of the most familiar birds of this family, and ranges over a wide extent of territory. Excepting where it has been exterminated by the persecutions of indiscriminate destroyers, it is everywhere a very abundant species. Once common, it is now rarely metwith in the neighborhood of Boston, though in the western part of Massachusetts it is still to be found. In the collections of the Smithsonian Institution are specimens from Pennsylvania, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Louisiana, the Indian Territory, etc. Sir John Richardson speaks of it as ranging in summer as far north as the northern shores of Lake Huron. He also remarks that in the Hudson Bay Museum there is a specimen from the banks of the Columbia River. Dr. Gambel, in his paper on the birds of California, states that he saw many of them in a belt of oak timber near the Mission ofSt.Gabriel. As, however, Dr. Heermann did not meet with it in California, and as no other collector has obtained specimens in that State, this is probably a mistake. With the exception of Dr. Woodhouse, who speaks of having found this species in the Indian Territory and in Texas, it is not mentioned by any of the government exploring parties. It may therefore be assigned a range extending, in summer, as far north as Labrador, and westward to the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains. Throughout the year it is a permanent resident only of the more southern States, where it is, however, much less abundant in summer than it is in Pennsylvania.Wilson, at the time of his writing (1808), speaks of finding several of the nests of this Woodpecker within the boundaries of the then city of Philadelphia, two of them being in buttonwood-trees and one in the decayed limb of an elm. The parent birds made regular excursions to the woods beyond the Schuylkill, and preserved a silence and circumspection in visiting their nest entirely unlike their habits in their wilder places of residence. The species is altogether migratory, visiting the Middle and Northern States early in May and leaving in October. It begins the construction of its nest almost immediately after its first appearance, as with other members of its family, by excavations made in the trunk or larger limbs of trees, depositing six white eggs on the bare wood. The cavities for their nests are made almost exclusively in dead wood, rarely, if ever, in the living portion of the tree. In Texas, Louisiana, Kentucky, and the Carolinas, they have two broods in a season, but farther north than this they rarely raise more than one. Their eggs are usually six in number, and, like all the eggs of this family, are pure white and translucent when fresh. They vary a little in their shape, but are usually slightly more oval and less spherical than those of several other species. Mr. Nuttall speaks of the eggs of this bird as being said to be marked at the larger end with reddish spots. I have never met with any thus marked, and as Mr. Nuttall does not give it as from his own observations I have no doubt that it is a mistake. Mr. Paine, of Randolph,Vt., writes that he has only seen a single specimen of this Woodpecker in that part of Vermont, while on the western side of the Green Mountains they are said to be very common. He adds that it is a tradition among his older neighbors that these Woodpeckers were formerly everywhere known throughout all portions of the State.Mr. Ridgway saw a single individual of this species in the outskirts of Salt Lake City, in July, 1869.Their eggs vary both in size and in shape, from a spherical to an oblong-oval, the latter being the more usual. Their length varies from 1.10 to 1.15 inches, and their breadth from .80 to .90 of an inch.Melanerpes formicivorus,var.formicivorus,Bonap.CALIFORNIA WOODPECKER.Picus formicivorus,Swainson,Birds Mex.inPhilos. Mag. I, 1827, 439 (Mexico).—Vigors,Zoöl.Blossom, 1839, 23 (Monterey).—Nuttall,Man. I,2d ed.1840.Melanerpes formicivorus,Bp.Conspectus, 1850, 115.—Heermann,J. A. N. Sc. Phil.2dseries,II, 1853, 270.—Cassin,Illust. II, 1853, 11,pl. ii.—Newberry,Zoöl. Cal.& Oregon Route, 90,P. R. R. Surv. VI, 1857.—Baird,Birds N. Am.1868, 114.—Sumichrast,Mem. Bost. Soc. I, 1865, 562 (correcting an error of Saussure).—Cassin,Pr. A. N. S.63, 328.—Heermann,P. R. R. X, 58 (nesting).—Baird,Rep. M. Bound. II, Birds, 6.—Sclater,Pr. Z. S.1858, 305 (Oaxaca).—Ib.Ibis, 137 (Honduras).—Cab.Jour.1862, 322 (Costa Rica).—Coues,Pr. A. N. S.1866, 55.—Cooper,Orn. Cal. I, 1870, 403.Picus melanopogon,Temminck,Pl.Color.IV, (1829?pl. ccccli.—Wagler, Isis, 1829,v, 515.—Sundevall,Consp.51.

Illustration: Hylotomus pileatusHylotomus pileatus.Sp. Char.Fourth and fifth quills equal and longest; third intermediate between sixth and seventh. Bill blue-black; more horn-color beneath. General color of body, wings, and tail dull greenish-black. A narrow white streak from just above the eye to the occiput; a wider one from the nostril feathers (inclusive), under the eye and along the side of the head and neck; sides of the breast (concealed by the wing), axillaries, and under wing-coverts, and concealed bases of all the quills, with chin and beneath the head, white, tinged with sulphur-yellow. Entire crown from the base of the bill to a well-developed occipital crest, as also a patch on the ramus of the lower jaw, scarlet-red. A few faint white crescents on the sides of the body and on the abdomen. Longer primaries generally tipped with white. Length, about 18.00; wing, 9.50.Femalewithout the red on the cheek, and the anterior half of that on the top of the head replaced by black.Hab.Wooded parts of North America from Atlantic to Pacific. Localities: E. Texas (not Rio Grande!), (Dresser, Ibis, 1865, 469, breeds).Specimens of this species from Fort Liard in the Northern Rocky Mountains, and from Puget Sound region, are nearly four inches longer than those from the Southern Atlantic States, and are scarcely exceeded in size by the Ivory-billed Woodpecker.Specimens from the northwest coast region (Columbia River, BritishColumbia, etc.) have no trace of the white spots on ends of outer primaries, always found in eastern specimens.Habits.No member of this large family has a wider distribution than the Pileated Woodpecker, extending from the Gulf of Mexico to the extremest limits of the northern forests, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific. It seems to be a resident everywhere but in its extreme northern localities, rather than a migratory species. There are specimens in the Smithsonian collection from Nelson River, on the north, toSt.Johns River, Florida, on the south, and from Pennsylvania on the east to the Rio Grande and the Columbia on the west. Sir John Richardson (Fauna Boreali-Americana,II, p.304) speaks of it as resident all the year in the interior of the fur countries, up to the62dor63dparallels, rarely appearing near Hudson’s Bay, but frequenting the gloomiest recesses of the forests that skirt the Rocky Mountains. Dr. Woodhouse, in his Report on the natural history of the expedition down the Zuñi and the Colorado Rivers, speaks of this Woodpecker as having been found abundant in the Indian Territory, Texas, and New Mexico. Neither Dr. Gambel nor Dr. Heermann give it in their lists of the birds of California, nor does Dr. Newberry mention meeting with it in his Report of the zoölogy of his route. Dr. Suckley, however, speaks of the Log-Cock as abundant in the vicinity of Fort Steilacoom, Washington Territory, during summer, and Dr. Cooper also mentions it as an abundant and constant resident in the forests of the Territory. I have occasionally met with it in the wilder portions of New Hampshire and Maine, but have nowhere been so fortunate as to observe its nest or its breeding-habits. It has always seemed a very shy bird, difficult of approach, always keeping at a safe distance, and ever greeting your attempts for a nearer view with a loud, cackling cry, not unlike a derisive laugh.According to the observations of Wilson, their eggs are deposited in the hole of a tree dug out by themselves, no other materials being used but the soft chips of rotten wood. The female lays six eggs, of a snowy whiteness, and they are said to raise two broods in a season.Mr. Audubon states that it almost always breeds in the interior of the forest, and frequently on trees placed in deep swamps over the water, appearing to give a preference to the southern side of the tree, on which side the hole is usually found to which they retreat in the winter and during stormy weather. The hole is sometimes bored perpendicularly, but occasionally in the form of that of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker. The usual depth is from twelve to eighteen inches, the breadth from two and a half to three, and at the bottom five or six. He believed they raise but a single brood in a season. The young follow their parents a long while, sometimes until the return of spring.Rev. Dr. Bachman gives an interesting account of a pair of Pileated Woodpeckers building a nest in an old elm-tree in a swamp, and occupying it the first year. Early the next spring two Bluebirds took possession ofit, and there had young. Before they were half grown the Woodpeckers returned to the place, and, despite the cries and reiterated attacks of the Bluebirds, took out the young and carried them away to some distance. Next, the nest itself was disposed of, the hole cleaned and enlarged, and there they raised their brood. The tree was large, but so situated that Dr. Bachman could reach the nest from the branches of another. The hole was eighteen inches deep, and he could touch the bottom with his hand. The eggs, six in number, were laid on fragments of chips expressly left by the birds, and were large, white, and translucent. Before the Woodpeckers began to sit, he robbed them of their eggs to see if they would lay a second time. They waited a few days as if undecided, and then he heard the female at work again, deepening the hole and making it broader at the bottom. She soon recommenced laying, this time depositing five eggs. He suffered her to bring out her young, both birds alternately incubating, and each visiting the other at intervals, looking in at the hole to see if all were right and well there, and flying off afterwards in search of food. When the young were old enough, he took them home and endeavored to raise them. Three died, refusing all food. With two he was more successful. But even these he found untamable and destructive and troublesome pets, which he was at last glad to release.Dr. Cooper, who observed this species in Washington Territory, discovered a pair early in April on Whitby’s Island, burrowing out a hole for their nest in a dead trunk, about thirty feet from the ground. They worked alternately, and were very watchful, keeping perfectly silent while they heard any noise near by. He found the place by noticing chips on the bushes below, and after watching silently for some time, one of them began to work, now and then protruding its bill full of chips, and, after cautiously looking round, dropping them.According to Mr. C. S. Paine, of Randolph,Vt., the Pileated Woodpecker is very rare in Vermont, and extremely shy. It is difficult to approach one nearer than from fifteen to twenty rods, except by surprise. He adds that in only a single instance has he been able to shoot one. This fell with a broken wing. Before he could reach it, the bird commenced climbing a tree, and nearly escaped. When overtaken, it fought furiously, and wounded Mr. Paine severely in the hand, setting up at the same time a loud outcry, not unlike that of a domestic hen. He has never met with its nest, although he has several times seen the young when just able to leave it. The elder Mr. Paine states that, some fifty years previous, this species was abundant in Vermont, and not at all timid, and is of the opinion that their present shyness is all that exempts them from extermination.Mr. Dresser found this Woodpecker resident and quite numerous in Texas near all the large rivers, where the timber is heavy. A few were seen on the Medina, and their eggs obtained there, but they were not abundant in that district. On the Colorado and Brazos Rivers these birds were very common,and Mr. Dresser found several nests in huge cottonwood-trees, but had no means of getting to them.Mr. J. K. Lord assigns to this species a wide western range, being common both east and west of the Cascades, and on the west slope of the Rocky Mountains. He met with it north as far as Fort Rupert in Vancouver Island, and south through Oregon and California. He found them at Colville during the winter. He states that they nest in May, generally in a tall dead pine-tree, at a great height.For my first specimens of the eggs of this species I am under obligations to Dr. Cornelius Kollock, of Cheraw,S. C.They were obtained by him from excavations made in large trees at the height of about twenty-five feet from the ground, and in localities at no great distance from the inhabited parts of the country.The eggs of this species from South Carolina and Florida are of a very brilliant crystalline whiteness, of a rounded-oval shape, and measure 1.25 inches in length by 1.02 in breadth. Northern specimens are probably larger.SectionCENTUREÆ.The United States genera of this section are very similar to each other, and may be most easily distinguished by color, as follows:—Centurus.Back and wings banded transversely with black and white. Crown more or less red; rest of head with under parts grayish, and with red or yellow tinge on the middle of the abdomen. Rump white.Melanerpes.Upper parts uniform black, without bands, with or without a white rump; variable beneath, but without transverse bands.GenusCENTURUS,Swainson.Centurus,Sw.Class. Birds, II, 1837, 310. (Type,C. carolinus.)Zebrapicus,Malh.Mém. Acad. Metz, 1849, 360. (Type,C. carolinus.)Gen. Char.Bill about the length of the head, or a little longer; decidedly compressed, except at the extreme base. A lateral ridge starting a little below the culmen at the base of the bill, and angular for half the length of the bill, then becoming obsolete, though traceable nearly to the tip. Culmen considerably curved from the base; gonys nearly straight. Nostrils very broad, elliptical; situated about midway on the side of the mandible, near the base; partly concealed. Outer pairs of toes unequal, the anterior toe longest. Wings long, broad; third to fifth primaries equal and longest. Tail-feathers rather narrow, stiffened.The species are all banded above transversely with black and white; the rump white. The head and under parts are brown, or grayish, the latter sometimes much the lighter. The belly with a red or yellow tinge. The under tail-coverts with V-shaped dark marks. The North American species ofCenturusmay be arranged as follows:—C. carolinus.Middle of belly reddish; whole crown and nape red in male. Nape, only, red in female.Forehead reddish; beneath soiled ashy-white; abdomen pinkish-red; crissum with sagittate marks of dusky. Wing, 5.25; tail, 3.80; bill, 1.30.Hab.Eastern Province United States …var.carolinus.Forehead smoky-white; beneath smoky-olive, middle of abdomen carmine-red; crissum with broad transverse bars of dusky. Wing, 4.50; tail, 2.60; bill, 1.08.Hab.Central America; Venezuela …var.tricolor.[129]C. aurifrons.Middle of belly yellowish; red of crown, in male, confined to an ovoid vertical patch. Nape and forehead gamboge-yellow; white of rump and upper tail-coverts immaculate.Femalewithout any red on the crown.Inner webs of middle tail-feathers unvariegated black. Lower parts dirty ashy-whitish, abdomen dilute gamboge-yellow. Wing, 5.20; tail, 3.60; bill, 1.50.Hab.Eastern Mexico, north to the Rio Grande …var.aurifrons.Inner webs of middle tail-feathers spotted with white. Lower parts smoky-olive, belly bright orange-yellow. Wing, 4.70; tail, 2.80; bill, 1.16.Hab.Costa Rica …var.hoffmanni.[130]C. uropygialis.Middle of the belly yellowish. Nape and forehead soft smoky grayish-brown.Femalewithout red or yellow on head. White of rump and upper tail-coverts with transverse dusky bars. Inner webs of middle tail-feathers spotted with white. Wing, 5.30; tail, 3.70; bill, 1.35.Hab.Western Mexico, north into Colorado, region of Middle Province of United States.Illustration: Color plate 52PLATELII.Illustration: Color plate 52 detail 11.Centurus carolinus.♂Pa., 868.Illustration: Color plate 52 detail 22.Centurus uropygialis.♂Ariz., 6128.Illustration: Color plate 52 detail 33.Centurus aurifrons.♂Texas, 6121.Illustration: Color plate 52 detail 44.Centurus carolinus.♀6118.Illustration: Color plate 52 detail 55.Centurus uropygialis.♀Ariz.Illustration: Color plate detail6.Centurus aurifrons.♀Texas.Centurus carolinus,Bonap.RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER.Picus carolinus,Linn.Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 174.—Wilson,Am. Orn. I, 1808, 113,pl. vii, f.2.—Aud.Orn. Biog. V, 1839, 169,pl. ccccxv.—Ib.BirdsAmer. IV, 1842, 270,pl. cclxx.—Max.Cab. Jour.1858, 418.—Sundevall,Consp.53.Centurus carolinus,Sw. Bp.List, 1838.—Ib.Conspectus,Av.1850, 119.—Baird,Birds N. Am.109.—Cab.Jour.1862, 324.—Dresser, Ibis, 1865, 469 (resident in Texas).—Scl.Cat.1862, 342.—Gray,Cat.99.—Allen,B. E. Fla.306.Centurus carolinensis,Sw.Birds,II, 1837, 310 (error).Picus griseus,Vieill.Ois. Am. Sept. II, 1807, 52,pl. cxvi.? Picus erythrauchen,Wagler,Syst.Avium, 1827.Picus zebra,Boddært,Tabl. pl. enl. (Gray, genera).Sp. Char.Third, fourth, and fifth quills nearly equal, and longest; second, or outermost, and seventh about equal. Top of the 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-covert 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 theinner web; the outer web with a stripe of white along the middle. Length, 9.75; wing, about 5.00. Female with the crown ashy; forehead pale red; nape bright red.Illustration: Centurus carolinusCenturus carolinus.865♂Hab.North America, from Atlantic coast to the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains. Localities: Texas (Dresser, Ibis, 1865, 469, resident).Specimens vary considerably in size (with latitude), and in the tinge of reddish on chin, breast, etc. The width of the dorsal bands differs in different specimens. The rump is banded; upper tail-coverts are generally immaculate, but are sometimes dashed with black. Specimens from the Mississippi Valley are generally more brightly colored than those from the Atlantic States, the lower parts more strongly tinged with red. Florida examples are smaller than northern ones, the black bars broader, the lower parts deeper ashy and strongly tinged with red, but of a more purplish shade than in western ones.Illustration: Centurus carolinusCenturus carolinus.Habits.The Red-bellied Woodpecker is distributed throughout North America, from the Atlantic Coast to the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains. It is, however, much more abundant in the more southern and western portions. In the collections of the Smithsonian Institution none are recorded from farther north than Pennsylvania on the east and Nebraska Territory on the west, while others were obtained as far south as Florida. Nor am I aware that it is found, except very rarely, north of Pennsylvania on the Atlantic coast. I have never met with it in Eastern Massachusetts, although Mr. Audubon speaks of it as breeding from Maryland to Nova Scotia. Dr. Woodhouse found it common in the Indian Territory and in Texas. Wilson speaks of having found it abundant in Upper Canada, and in the northern parts of the State of New York. He also refers to its inhabiting the whole Atlantic States as far as Georgia and the southern extremity of Florida. Its absence in Eastern Massachusetts was noticed by Mr. Nuttall. It is not given by Thompson or Paine asone of the birds of Vermont, nor does Lieutenant Bland mention it as one of the birds of Nova Scotia, and it is not included by Sir John Richardson in theFauna Boreali-Americana.Mr. Audubon speaks of it as generally more confined to the interior of forests than the Hairy Woodpecker, especially during the breeding-season. He further states that he never met with its nest in Louisiana or South Carolina, but that it was not rare in Kentucky, and that, from the State of Maryland to Nova Scotia, it breeds in all convenient places, usually more in the woods than out of them. He also states that he has found the nests in orchards in Pennsylvania, generally not far from the junction of a branch with the trunk. He describes the hole as bored in the ordinary manner. The eggs are seldom more than four in number, and measure 1.06 inches in length and .75 of an inch in breadth. They are of an elliptical form, smooth, pure white, and translucent. They are not known to raise more than one brood in a season.Wilson speaks of this species as more shy and less domestic than the Red-headed or any of the other spotted Woodpeckers, and also as more solitary. He adds that it prefers the largest high-timbered woods and the tallest decayed trees of the forest, seldom appearing near the ground, on the fences, or in orchards or open fields. In regard to their nesting, he says that the pair, in conjunction, dig out a circular cavity for the nest in the lower side of some lofty branch that makes a considerable angle with the horizon. Sometimes they excavate this in the solid wood, but more generally in a hollow limb, some fifteen inches above where it becomes solid. This is usually done early in April. The female lays five eggs, of a pure white, or almost semi-transparent. The young generally make their appearance towards the latter part of May. Wilson was of the opinion that they produced two broods in a season.Mr. Dresser found this bird resident and abundant in Texas. It is also equally abundant in Louisiana and in Florida, and Mr. Ridgway considers it very common in Southern Illinois. Neither Mr. Boardman nor Mr. Verrill have found it in Maine. Mr. McIlwraith has, however, taken three specimens at Hamilton, Canada West, May 3, near Chatham. Mr. Allen gives it as a summer visitant in Western Massachusetts, having seen one on the 13th of May, 1863. It has also been taken several times in Connecticut, by Professor Emmons, who met with it, during the breeding-season, in the extreme western part of the State. Mr. Lawrence has found it near New York City, and Mr. Turnbull in Eastern Pennsylvania.The eggs vary from an oblong to a somewhat rounded oval shape, are of a bright crystalline whiteness, and their measurements average 1.02 inches in length by .88 of an inch in breadth.Centurus aurifrons,Gray.YELLOW-BELLIED WOODPECKER.Picus aurifrons,Wagler, Isis, 1829, 512.—Sundevall,Consp. Pic.53.Centurus aurifrons,Gray, Genera.—Cabanis,Jour.1862, 323.—Cooper,Orn. Cal.1, 1870, 399.Centurus flaviventris,Swainson,Anim. in Menag.1838 (2½ centenaries), 354.—Baird,Birds N. Am.1858, 110,pl. xlii.—Heermann,P. R. Rep. X, c, 18.—Dresser, Ibis, 1865, 469 (resident in Texas).—Ib.Rep. Mex. Bound. II, 5,pl. iv.Centurus elegans,Lawrence,Ann. N. Y. Lyc. V, May, 1851, 116.Centurus santacruzi,Lawrence,Ann. N. Y. Lyc. V, 1851, 123 (not ofBonap.).Picus ornatus,Less.Rev. Zoöl.1839, 102.Sp. Char.Fourth and fifth quills nearly equal; third a little shorter; longer than the fourth. Back banded transversely with black and white; rump and upper tail-coverts pure white. Crown with a subquadrate spot of crimson, about half an inch wide and long; and separated from the gamboge-yellow at the base of the bill by dirty white, from the orbit and occiput by brownish-ash. Nape half-way round the neck orange-yellow. Under part generally, and sides of head, dirty white. Middle of belly gamboge-yellow. Tail-feathers all entirely black, except the outer, which has some obscure bars of white. Length about 9.50; wing, 5.00. Female without the red of the crown.Hab.Rio Grande region of the United States, south into Mexico. Probably Arizona. Localities: Orizaba (Scl.P. Z. S.1860, 252); Texas, south of San Antonio (Dresser, Ibis, 1865, 469, resident).Young birds are not different from adults, except in showing indication of dark shaft-lines beneath, becoming broader behind on the sides. The yellow of the nape extends over the whole side of the head.Habits.This beautiful Woodpecker is abundant throughout the valley of the Rio Grande, from Eagle Pass to its mouth; how far to the west within our boundaries it occurs, I am not able to state. It is common throughout Mexico, and was found in the Guatemalan collection of Van Patten, though not mentioned by Sclater and Salvin. Dr. Woodhouse, in his Report on the zoölogy of Captain Sitgreaves’s expedition, speaks of finding it quite abundant in the neighborhood of San Antonio, Texas. He adds that west of the Rio San Pedro he did not meet with it. He speaks of it as having a loud, sharp cry, which it utters as it flies from tree to tree. He observed it mostly on the trunks of the mesquite (Algarobia), diligently searching in the usual manner of Woodpeckers. In the Report upon the birds of the Mexican Boundary Survey, it is mentioned by Mr. Clark as abundant on the Lower Rio Grande, as very shy, and as keeping chiefly about the mesquite. Lieutenant Couch speaks of it as very common throughout Tamaulipas.Mr. Dresser found the Yellow-bellied Woodpecker plentiful from the Rio Grande to San Antonio, and as far north and east as the Guadaloupe, after which he lost sight of it. Wherever the mesquite-trees were large, there it was sure to be found, and very sparingly elsewhere. Near San Antonio it is quite common, but not so much so as theC. carolinus. At Eagle Pass, however, it was the more abundant of the two. He found itbreeding near San Antonio, boring for its nest-hole into a mesquite-tree. Mr. Dresser was informed by Dr. Heermann, who has seen many of their nests, that he never found them in any other tree.These birds were found breeding by Dr. Berlandier, and his collection. contained quite a number of their eggs. Nothing was found among his papers in relation to their habits or their manner of breeding. Their eggs, procured by him, are of an oblong-oval shape, and measure 1.05 inches in length by .85 of an inch in breadth.Centurus uropygialis,Baird.GILA WOODPECKER.Centurus uropygialis,Baird,Pr. A. N. Sc. Ph. VII, June, 1854, 120 (Bill Williams River,N. M.)—Ib.Birds N. Am.1858,III, pl. xxxvi.—Cab.Jour.1862, 330.—Sundevall,Consp.54.—Kennerly,P. R. R. X, bpl. xxxvi.—Heermann,X, c, 17.Coues,Pr. Avi.1866, 54 (S.Arizona).—Cooper,Orn. Cal.1, 1870, 399.Centurus hypopolius, (Bp.)Pucheran,Rev. et Mag.1853, 163 (notPicus (Centurus) hypopolius,Wagler).Zebrapicus kaupii,Malherbe, 1855.—Gray,Catal.Br. Mex.Centurus sulfureiventer,Reichenbach, Handbuch, Picinæ,Oct.1854, 410, figs. 4411, 4412.Sp. Char.Third, fourth, and fifth quills longest, and about equal. Back, rump, and upper tail-coverts transversely barred with black and white, purest on the two latter. Head and neck all round pale dirty-brown, or brownish-ash, darkest above. A small subquadrate patch of red on the middle of the crown, separated from the bill by dirty white. Middle of the abdomen gamboge-yellow; under tail-coverts and anal region strongly barred with black. First and second outer tail-feathers banded black and white, as is also the inner web of the inner tail-feather; the outer web of the latter with a white stripe. Length, about 9.00; wing, 5.00. Female with the head uniform brownish-ash, without any red or yellow.Hab.Lower Colorado River of the West, to CapeSt.Lucas. South to Mazatlan. Localities: W. Arizona (Coues,P. A. N. S.1866, 54).Habits.This species was first discovered by Dr. Kennerly in his route along the 35th parallel, and described by Professor Baird, in 1854. The Doctor encountered it almost continually during the entire march along the Big Sandy, Bill Williams Fork, and the Great Colorado; but it was so very shy that he had great difficulty in procuring specimens. Seated in the top of the tree, it was ever on guard; and, upon the approach of danger, flew away, accompanying its flight with the utterance of very peculiar notes. Its flight was in an undulating line, like that of other birds of this class.Dr. Heermann found this Woodpecker abundant on the banks of the Gila River among the mesquite-trees. The giant cactus, often forty feet high, which grows abundantly on the arid hillsides throughout that whole section of country, was frequently found filled with holes bored out by this bird. The pith of the plant is extracted until a chamber of suitable size is obtained, when the juice exuding from the wounded surface hardens, and forms a smooth dry coating to the cavity, thus making a convenientplace for the purposes of incubation. At Tucson, in Arizona, he found it frequenting the cornfields, where it might be seen alighting on the old hedge-posts in search of insects. Its note, he adds, resembles very much that of the Red-headed Woodpecker. He afterwards met with this bird in California, in considerable numbers, on the Colorado. Besides its ordinary notes, resembling those of theMelanerpes erythrocephalus, it varies them with a soft plaintive cry, as if hurt or wounded. He found their stomachs filled with the white gelatinous berry of a parasitic plant which grows abundantly on the mesquite-trees, and the fruit of which forms the principal food of many species of birds during the fall.Dr. Coues gives this bird as rare and probably accidental in the immediate vicinity of Fort Whipple, but as a common bird in the valleys of the Gila and of the Lower Colorado, where it has the local name ofSuwarrow, orSaguaro, on account of its partiality for the large cactuses, with the juice of which plant its plumage is often found stained.Dr. Cooper found this Woodpecker abundant in winter at Fort Mohave, when they feed chiefly on the berries of the mistletoe, and are very shy. He rarely saw them pecking at the trees, but they seemed to depend for a living on insects, which were numerous on the foliage during the spring. They have a loud note of alarm, strikingly similar to that of thePhainopepla nitens, which associated with them in the mistletoe-boughs.About the 25th of March he found them preparing their nests in burrows near the dead tops of trees, none of them, so far as he saw, being accessible. By the last of May they had entirely deserted the mistletoe, and were probably feeding their young on insects.GenusMELANERPES,Swainson.Melanerpes,Swainson,F. B. A. II, 1831. (Type,Picus erythrocephalus.)Melampicus(Section 3),Malherbe,Mém. Ac.Metz, 1849, 365.Asyndesmus,Coues,Pr. A. N. S.1866, 55. (Type,Picus torquatus.)Gen. Char.Bill about equal to the head; broader than high at the base, but becoming compressed immediately anterior to the commencement of the gonys. Culmen and gonys with a moderately decided angular ridge; both decidedly curved from the very base. A rather prominent acute ridge commences at the base of the mandible, a little below the ridge of the culmen, and proceeds but a short distance anterior to the nostrils (about one third of the way), when it sinks down, and the bill is then smooth. The lateral outlines are gently concave from the basal two thirds; then gently convex to the tip, which does not exhibit any abrupt bevelling. Nostrils open, broadly oval; not concealed by the feathers, nor entirely basal. Fork of chin less than half lower jaw. The outer pair of toes equal. Wings long, broad; lengthened. Tail-feathers broad, with lengthened points.The species all have the back black, without any spots or streaks anywhere.Illustration: Melanerpes erythrocephalusMelanerpes erythrocephalus.883♀Dr. Coues placesM. torquatusin a new genus,Asyndesmus, characterized by a peculiar texture of the under part and nuchal collar, in which thefibres are disconnected on their terminal portion, enlarged and stiffened, almost bristle-like; otherwise the characters are much as inMelanerpes. It should, however, be noted, that the feathers of the red portion of the head in the other species have the same texture.Species and Varieties.A.Sexes similar.Youngvery different from the adult.M. torquatus.Feathers of the lower parts, as well as of frontal, lateral, and under portions of the head, with the fibres bristle-like. (Asyndesmus,Coues.) Upper parts wholly uniform, continuous, very metallic blackish-green.Adult.Forehead, lores, cheeks, and chin deep crimson, of a burnt-carmine tint; jugulum, breast, and a ring entirely around the nape, grayish-white; abdomen light carmine. Back glossed with purplish-bronze.Youngwithout the red of the head, and lacking the grayish nuchal collar; abdomen only tinged with red, no purple or bronze tints above. Wing, 6.70; tail, 4.50.Hab.Western Province of the United States, from the Black Hills to the Pacific.M. erythrocephalus.Feathers generally soft, blended; those of the whole head and neck with stiffened and bristle-like fibres in the adult. Secondaries, rump, and upper tail-coverts, with whole lower parts from the neck, continuous pure white. Two lateral tail-feathers tipped with white.Adult.Whole head and neck bright venous-crimson or blood-red, with a black convex posterior border across the jugulum; back, wings, and tail glossy blue-black.Young.Head and neck grayish, streaked with dusky; back and scapulars grayish, spotted with black; secondaries with two or three black bands; breast tinged with grayish, and with sparse dusky streaks. Wing, 5.90; tail, 3.90.Hab.Eastern Province of the United States, west to the Rocky Mountains.B.Sexes dissimilar; young like the adult.M. formicivorus.Forehead and a broad crescent across the middle of the throat (the two areas connected by a narrow strip across the lore), white, more or less tinged with sulphur-yellow. Rump, upper tail-coverts, abdomen,sides, and crissum, with patch on base of primaries, pure white, the sides and breast with black streaks. Other portions glossy blue-black.♂. Whole crown and nape carmine.♀with the occiput and nape alone red.More than the anterior half of the pectoral band immaculate.♀with the white frontal, black coronal, and red occipital bands of about equal width. Forehead and throat only slightly tinged with sulphur-yellow. Wing, 5.80; tail, 3.90; bill, 1.27.Hab.Pacific Province of United States, and Northern and Western Mexico…var.formicivorus.♀with the white frontal band only about half as wide as the black coronal, which is only about half as wide as the red occipital, band or patch. Forehead and throat bright sulphur-yellow. Wing, 5.40; tail, 3.65; bill, 1.23.Hab.Lower California …var.angustifrons.Nearly the whole of the black pectoral band variegated with white streaks.Relative width of the white, black, and red areas on the crown as informicivorus. Wing, 5.50; tail, 3.75; bill, 1.22.Hab.Middle America, south of Orizaba and Mirador …var.striatipectus.[131]♂. Nape, only, red (as in females of preceding races);♀without any red.Whole breast streaked, the black and white being in about equal amount. Wing, 5.70; tail, 3.90; bill, 1.20.Hab.New Granada …var.flavigula.[132]Melanerpes torquatus,Bonap.LEWIS’S WOODPECKER.Picus torquatus,Wilson,Am. Orn. III, 1811, 31,pl. xx.—Wagler,Syst. Av.1827,No.82.—Aud.Orn. Biog. V, 1839, 176,pl. ccccxvi.—Ib.BirdsAmer. IV, 1842, 280,pl. cclxxii.—Sundevall,Consp.51.Melanerpes torquatus,Bp.Consp.1850, 115.—Heermann,J. A. N. Sc. Phil.2d ser. II, 1853, 270.—Newberry,Zoöl. Cal. & Or.Route, 90, inP. R. R. Surv. VI, 1857.—Baird,Birds N. Am.115.—Cooper & Suckley, 161.—Cassin.Pr. A. N. S.1863, 327.—Lord,Pr. R. A. Inst.IV, 1864, 112 (nesting).—Cooper,Orn. Cal.1, 1870, 406.Picus montanus,Ord.in Guthrie’sGeog. 2d Am. ed. II, 1815, 316.Picus lewisii,Drapiez.(Gray.)Asyndesmus torquatus,Coues,Pr. A. N. S.1866, 55.Sp. Char.Feathers on the under parts bristle-like. Fourth quill longest; then third and fifth. Above dark glossy-green. Breast, lower part of the neck, and a narrow collar all round, hoary grayish-white. Around the base of the bill and sides of the head tobehind the eyes, dark crimson. Belly blood-red, streaked finely with hoary whitish. Wings and tail entirely uniform dark glossy-green. Female similar. Length about 10.50; wing, 6.50. Young without the nuchal collar, and the red of head replaced by black.Hab.Western America from Black Hills to Pacific.The peculiarities in the feathers of the under parts have already been adverted to. This structure appears to be essentially connected with the red feathers, since these have the same texture in the other species of the genus, wherever the color occurs. The remark may perhaps apply generally to the red feathers of most, if not all, Woodpeckers, and may be connected with some chemical or physical condition yet to be determined.Habits.Lewis’s Woodpecker would seem to have a distribution throughout the Pacific Coast, from the sea-shore to the mountains, and from Puget Sound to the Gulf of California, and extending to the eastern border of the Great Plains, within the limits of the United States. They were first observed by Messrs. Lewis and Clarke, in their memorable journey to the Pacific. Subsequently Mr. Nuttall met with them in his westward journey, in the central chain of the Rocky Mountains. This was in the month of July. Among the cedar and pine woods of Bear River, on the edge of Upper California, he found them inhabiting the decayed trunks of the pine-trees, and already feeding their young. Afterwards, at the close of August, he met them in flocks on the plains, sixty miles up the Wahlamet. He describes them as very unlike Woodpeckers in their habits, perching in dense flocks, like Starlings, neither climbing branches nor tapping in the manner of their tribe, but darting after insects and devouring berries, like Thrushes. He saw them but seldom, either in the dense forests of the Columbia or in any settled part of California.Townsend speaks of their arriving about the first of May on Bear River and the Columbia. Both sexes incubate, according to his observations.Dr. Gambel first observed this Woodpecker in a belt of oak timber near the Mission ofSt.Gabriel, in California, and states that it was abundant. He also describes its habits as peculiar, and unlike the generality of Woodpeckers. Dr. Heermann, too, speaks of finding it in all the parts of California which he visited. Dr. Newberry, in his Notes on the zoölogy of Lieutenant Williamson’s expedition, refers to it as most unlike the California Woodpecker in the region it occupies and in its retiring habits. He describes it as seeming to choose, for its favorite haunts, the evergreen forests upon the rocky declivities of the Cascade and Rocky Mountains. He first observed it in Northern California, but subsequently noticed it in the mountains all the way to the Columbia. Though often seen in low elevations, it was evidently alpine in its preferences, and was found most frequently near the line of perpetual snow; and when crossing the snow lines, in the mountain-passes, it was often observed flying far above the party. He describes it as being always shy, and difficult to shoot.Dr. S. W. Woodhouse describes this species as being common in the IndianTerritory and in New Mexico; while Dr. Cooper, in his Report on the zoölogy of Washington Territory, speaks of it as being common, during summer, in all the interior districts, but seldom or never approaching the coast. It arrives at Puget Sound early in May, and some even remain, during mild winters, in the Territory. According to his account, it burrows holes for its nests at all heights from the ground, but commonly in dead trees. The eggs are described as pure white, and, when fresh, translucent, like those of all the Woodpecker tribe, and hardly distinguishable in size and general appearance from those of the Golden-winged Woodpecker (Colaptes auratus). Its harsh call is rarely uttered in summer, when it seems to seek concealment for itself and nest. The flocks of young, which in fall associate together to the number of eight or ten, are more noisy. Dr. Suckley, in the same Report (page 162), speaks of this Woodpecker as being very abundant throughout the more open portions of the timbered region of the northwest coast, preferring oak openings and groves. At Fort Dalles, on the Columbia, they are extremely numerous, not only breeding there during summer, but also found as winter residents. Their breeding-places are generally holes in oak and other trees, which, from the appearance of all he examined, seemed to have been excavated for the purpose. At Puget Sound this species was found less frequently than at Fort Dalles, on the Columbia. At the latter place they were constant winter residents. Dr. Suckley also speaks of them as being semi-gregarious in their habits.Mr. Lord thinks that this Woodpecker is not to be met with west of the Cascade Mountains, but says it is very often found between the Cascades and the Rocky Mountains, where it frequents the open timber. The habits and modes of flight of this bird, he states, are not the least like a Woodpecker’s. It flies with a heavy flapping motion, much like a Jay, feeds a good deal on the ground, and chases insects on the wing like a Shrike or a Kingbird. Whilst mating they assemble in large numbers, and keep up a continual, loud, chattering noise. They arrive at Colville in April, begin nesting in May, and leave again in October. The nest is in a hole in a dead pine-tree, usually at a considerable height from the ground.Dr. Coues says this bird is very common at Fort Whipple, in Arizona, where it remained in moult until November.Mr. J. A. Allen found this the most numerous of thePicidæin Colorado Territory. He also states that it differs considerably in its habits from all the other Woodpeckers. He frequently noticed it rising high into the air almost vertically, and to a great height, apparently in pursuit of insects, and descending again as abruptly, to repeat the same manœuvre. It was met with by Mr. Ridgway in the Sacramento Valley, along the eastern base of the Sierra Nevada, and in the East Humboldt Mountains. In the first-mentioned locality it was the most abundant Woodpecker, and inhabited the scattered oaks of the plains. In the second region it was very abundant—perhaps more so than any other species—among the scattered pines alongthe very base of the eastern slope; and in the last-mentioned place was observed on a few occasions among the tall aspens bordering the streams in the lower portions of the cañons. In its habits it is described as approaching most closely to our common Red-headed Woodpecker (M. erythrocephalus), but possessing many very distinctive peculiarities. In the character of its notes it quite closely approximates to our common Redhead, but they are weaker and of a more twittering character; and in its lively playful disposition it even exceeds it. It has a very peculiar and characteristic habit of ascending high into the air, and taking a strange, floating flight, seemingly laborious, as if struggling against the wind, and then descending in broad circles to the trees.The eggs are more spherical than are usually those of theColaptes auratus, are of a beautiful crystalline whiteness, and measure 1.10 inches in length and .92 of an inch in breadth.Melanerpes erythrocephalus,Swainson.RED-HEADED WOODPECKER.Picus erythrocephalus,Linn.Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 174.—Vieillot,Ois. Am. Sept. II, 1807, 60,pl. cxii, cxiii.—Wilson,Am. Orn. I, 1810, 142,pl. ix, fig. 1.—Wagler,Syst. Av.1827,No.14.—Ib.Isis, 1829, 518 (young).—Aud.Orn. Biog. I, 1832, 141;V, 536,pl. xxvii.—Ib.Birds America,IV, 1842, 274,pl. cclxxi.—Max.Cab. J. VI, 1858, 419.Melanerpes erythrocephalus,Sw.F. B. A. II, 1831, 316.—Bon.List, 1838.—Ib.Conspectus, 1850, 115.—Gambel,J. Ac. Nat. Sc. Ph.2d ser. I, 1847, 55.—Baird,Birds N. Am.1858, 113.—Scl.Cat.1862, 340.—Samuels, 102.—Cooper,Orn. Cal.1, 1870, 402.—Allen,B. E. Fla.307.Picus obscurus,Gm.I, 1788, 429 (young).—Red-headed Woodpecker,Pennant,Kalm,Latham.White-rumped Woodpecker,Latham.Sp. Char.Head and neck all round crimson-red, margined by a narrow crescent of black on the upper part of the breast. Back, primary quills, and tail bluish-black. Under parts generally, a broad band across the middle of the wing, and the rump, white. The female is not different. Length, about 9.75; wing, 5.50. Bill bluish-white, darker terminally; iris chestnut; feet olive-gray. Young without any red, the head and neck being grayish streaked with dusky; breast with an ashy tinge, and streaked sparsely with dusky; secondaries with two or three bands of black; dorsal region clouded with grayish.Hab.Eastern Province of United States to base of Rocky Mountains, sometimes straggling westward to coast of California (Gambel). Salt Lake City, Utah (Ridgway). Otherlocalities: Nueces to Brazos, Texas (Dresser, Ibis, 1865, 469, breeds).Western specimens frequently have the abdomen strongly tinged with salmon-red, or orange-red, and are generally more deeply colored than eastern.Habits.The Red-headed Woodpecker is one of the most familiar birds of this family, and ranges over a wide extent of territory. Excepting where it has been exterminated by the persecutions of indiscriminate destroyers, it is everywhere a very abundant species. Once common, it is now rarely metwith in the neighborhood of Boston, though in the western part of Massachusetts it is still to be found. In the collections of the Smithsonian Institution are specimens from Pennsylvania, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Louisiana, the Indian Territory, etc. Sir John Richardson speaks of it as ranging in summer as far north as the northern shores of Lake Huron. He also remarks that in the Hudson Bay Museum there is a specimen from the banks of the Columbia River. Dr. Gambel, in his paper on the birds of California, states that he saw many of them in a belt of oak timber near the Mission ofSt.Gabriel. As, however, Dr. Heermann did not meet with it in California, and as no other collector has obtained specimens in that State, this is probably a mistake. With the exception of Dr. Woodhouse, who speaks of having found this species in the Indian Territory and in Texas, it is not mentioned by any of the government exploring parties. It may therefore be assigned a range extending, in summer, as far north as Labrador, and westward to the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains. Throughout the year it is a permanent resident only of the more southern States, where it is, however, much less abundant in summer than it is in Pennsylvania.Wilson, at the time of his writing (1808), speaks of finding several of the nests of this Woodpecker within the boundaries of the then city of Philadelphia, two of them being in buttonwood-trees and one in the decayed limb of an elm. The parent birds made regular excursions to the woods beyond the Schuylkill, and preserved a silence and circumspection in visiting their nest entirely unlike their habits in their wilder places of residence. The species is altogether migratory, visiting the Middle and Northern States early in May and leaving in October. It begins the construction of its nest almost immediately after its first appearance, as with other members of its family, by excavations made in the trunk or larger limbs of trees, depositing six white eggs on the bare wood. The cavities for their nests are made almost exclusively in dead wood, rarely, if ever, in the living portion of the tree. In Texas, Louisiana, Kentucky, and the Carolinas, they have two broods in a season, but farther north than this they rarely raise more than one. Their eggs are usually six in number, and, like all the eggs of this family, are pure white and translucent when fresh. They vary a little in their shape, but are usually slightly more oval and less spherical than those of several other species. Mr. Nuttall speaks of the eggs of this bird as being said to be marked at the larger end with reddish spots. I have never met with any thus marked, and as Mr. Nuttall does not give it as from his own observations I have no doubt that it is a mistake. Mr. Paine, of Randolph,Vt., writes that he has only seen a single specimen of this Woodpecker in that part of Vermont, while on the western side of the Green Mountains they are said to be very common. He adds that it is a tradition among his older neighbors that these Woodpeckers were formerly everywhere known throughout all portions of the State.Mr. Ridgway saw a single individual of this species in the outskirts of Salt Lake City, in July, 1869.Their eggs vary both in size and in shape, from a spherical to an oblong-oval, the latter being the more usual. Their length varies from 1.10 to 1.15 inches, and their breadth from .80 to .90 of an inch.Melanerpes formicivorus,var.formicivorus,Bonap.CALIFORNIA WOODPECKER.Picus formicivorus,Swainson,Birds Mex.inPhilos. Mag. I, 1827, 439 (Mexico).—Vigors,Zoöl.Blossom, 1839, 23 (Monterey).—Nuttall,Man. I,2d ed.1840.Melanerpes formicivorus,Bp.Conspectus, 1850, 115.—Heermann,J. A. N. Sc. Phil.2dseries,II, 1853, 270.—Cassin,Illust. II, 1853, 11,pl. ii.—Newberry,Zoöl. Cal.& Oregon Route, 90,P. R. R. Surv. VI, 1857.—Baird,Birds N. Am.1868, 114.—Sumichrast,Mem. Bost. Soc. I, 1865, 562 (correcting an error of Saussure).—Cassin,Pr. A. N. S.63, 328.—Heermann,P. R. R. X, 58 (nesting).—Baird,Rep. M. Bound. II, Birds, 6.—Sclater,Pr. Z. S.1858, 305 (Oaxaca).—Ib.Ibis, 137 (Honduras).—Cab.Jour.1862, 322 (Costa Rica).—Coues,Pr. A. N. S.1866, 55.—Cooper,Orn. Cal. I, 1870, 403.Picus melanopogon,Temminck,Pl.Color.IV, (1829?pl. ccccli.—Wagler, Isis, 1829,v, 515.—Sundevall,Consp.51.

Illustration: Hylotomus pileatusHylotomus pileatus.

Hylotomus pileatus.

Sp. Char.Fourth and fifth quills equal and longest; third intermediate between sixth and seventh. Bill blue-black; more horn-color beneath. General color of body, wings, and tail dull greenish-black. A narrow white streak from just above the eye to the occiput; a wider one from the nostril feathers (inclusive), under the eye and along the side of the head and neck; sides of the breast (concealed by the wing), axillaries, and under wing-coverts, and concealed bases of all the quills, with chin and beneath the head, white, tinged with sulphur-yellow. Entire crown from the base of the bill to a well-developed occipital crest, as also a patch on the ramus of the lower jaw, scarlet-red. A few faint white crescents on the sides of the body and on the abdomen. Longer primaries generally tipped with white. Length, about 18.00; wing, 9.50.Femalewithout the red on the cheek, and the anterior half of that on the top of the head replaced by black.

Hab.Wooded parts of North America from Atlantic to Pacific. Localities: E. Texas (not Rio Grande!), (Dresser, Ibis, 1865, 469, breeds).

Specimens of this species from Fort Liard in the Northern Rocky Mountains, and from Puget Sound region, are nearly four inches longer than those from the Southern Atlantic States, and are scarcely exceeded in size by the Ivory-billed Woodpecker.

Specimens from the northwest coast region (Columbia River, BritishColumbia, etc.) have no trace of the white spots on ends of outer primaries, always found in eastern specimens.

Habits.No member of this large family has a wider distribution than the Pileated Woodpecker, extending from the Gulf of Mexico to the extremest limits of the northern forests, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific. It seems to be a resident everywhere but in its extreme northern localities, rather than a migratory species. There are specimens in the Smithsonian collection from Nelson River, on the north, toSt.Johns River, Florida, on the south, and from Pennsylvania on the east to the Rio Grande and the Columbia on the west. Sir John Richardson (Fauna Boreali-Americana,II, p.304) speaks of it as resident all the year in the interior of the fur countries, up to the62dor63dparallels, rarely appearing near Hudson’s Bay, but frequenting the gloomiest recesses of the forests that skirt the Rocky Mountains. Dr. Woodhouse, in his Report on the natural history of the expedition down the Zuñi and the Colorado Rivers, speaks of this Woodpecker as having been found abundant in the Indian Territory, Texas, and New Mexico. Neither Dr. Gambel nor Dr. Heermann give it in their lists of the birds of California, nor does Dr. Newberry mention meeting with it in his Report of the zoölogy of his route. Dr. Suckley, however, speaks of the Log-Cock as abundant in the vicinity of Fort Steilacoom, Washington Territory, during summer, and Dr. Cooper also mentions it as an abundant and constant resident in the forests of the Territory. I have occasionally met with it in the wilder portions of New Hampshire and Maine, but have nowhere been so fortunate as to observe its nest or its breeding-habits. It has always seemed a very shy bird, difficult of approach, always keeping at a safe distance, and ever greeting your attempts for a nearer view with a loud, cackling cry, not unlike a derisive laugh.

According to the observations of Wilson, their eggs are deposited in the hole of a tree dug out by themselves, no other materials being used but the soft chips of rotten wood. The female lays six eggs, of a snowy whiteness, and they are said to raise two broods in a season.

Mr. Audubon states that it almost always breeds in the interior of the forest, and frequently on trees placed in deep swamps over the water, appearing to give a preference to the southern side of the tree, on which side the hole is usually found to which they retreat in the winter and during stormy weather. The hole is sometimes bored perpendicularly, but occasionally in the form of that of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker. The usual depth is from twelve to eighteen inches, the breadth from two and a half to three, and at the bottom five or six. He believed they raise but a single brood in a season. The young follow their parents a long while, sometimes until the return of spring.

Rev. Dr. Bachman gives an interesting account of a pair of Pileated Woodpeckers building a nest in an old elm-tree in a swamp, and occupying it the first year. Early the next spring two Bluebirds took possession ofit, and there had young. Before they were half grown the Woodpeckers returned to the place, and, despite the cries and reiterated attacks of the Bluebirds, took out the young and carried them away to some distance. Next, the nest itself was disposed of, the hole cleaned and enlarged, and there they raised their brood. The tree was large, but so situated that Dr. Bachman could reach the nest from the branches of another. The hole was eighteen inches deep, and he could touch the bottom with his hand. The eggs, six in number, were laid on fragments of chips expressly left by the birds, and were large, white, and translucent. Before the Woodpeckers began to sit, he robbed them of their eggs to see if they would lay a second time. They waited a few days as if undecided, and then he heard the female at work again, deepening the hole and making it broader at the bottom. She soon recommenced laying, this time depositing five eggs. He suffered her to bring out her young, both birds alternately incubating, and each visiting the other at intervals, looking in at the hole to see if all were right and well there, and flying off afterwards in search of food. When the young were old enough, he took them home and endeavored to raise them. Three died, refusing all food. With two he was more successful. But even these he found untamable and destructive and troublesome pets, which he was at last glad to release.

Dr. Cooper, who observed this species in Washington Territory, discovered a pair early in April on Whitby’s Island, burrowing out a hole for their nest in a dead trunk, about thirty feet from the ground. They worked alternately, and were very watchful, keeping perfectly silent while they heard any noise near by. He found the place by noticing chips on the bushes below, and after watching silently for some time, one of them began to work, now and then protruding its bill full of chips, and, after cautiously looking round, dropping them.

According to Mr. C. S. Paine, of Randolph,Vt., the Pileated Woodpecker is very rare in Vermont, and extremely shy. It is difficult to approach one nearer than from fifteen to twenty rods, except by surprise. He adds that in only a single instance has he been able to shoot one. This fell with a broken wing. Before he could reach it, the bird commenced climbing a tree, and nearly escaped. When overtaken, it fought furiously, and wounded Mr. Paine severely in the hand, setting up at the same time a loud outcry, not unlike that of a domestic hen. He has never met with its nest, although he has several times seen the young when just able to leave it. The elder Mr. Paine states that, some fifty years previous, this species was abundant in Vermont, and not at all timid, and is of the opinion that their present shyness is all that exempts them from extermination.

Mr. Dresser found this Woodpecker resident and quite numerous in Texas near all the large rivers, where the timber is heavy. A few were seen on the Medina, and their eggs obtained there, but they were not abundant in that district. On the Colorado and Brazos Rivers these birds were very common,and Mr. Dresser found several nests in huge cottonwood-trees, but had no means of getting to them.

Mr. J. K. Lord assigns to this species a wide western range, being common both east and west of the Cascades, and on the west slope of the Rocky Mountains. He met with it north as far as Fort Rupert in Vancouver Island, and south through Oregon and California. He found them at Colville during the winter. He states that they nest in May, generally in a tall dead pine-tree, at a great height.

For my first specimens of the eggs of this species I am under obligations to Dr. Cornelius Kollock, of Cheraw,S. C.They were obtained by him from excavations made in large trees at the height of about twenty-five feet from the ground, and in localities at no great distance from the inhabited parts of the country.

The eggs of this species from South Carolina and Florida are of a very brilliant crystalline whiteness, of a rounded-oval shape, and measure 1.25 inches in length by 1.02 in breadth. Northern specimens are probably larger.

SectionCENTUREÆ.

The United States genera of this section are very similar to each other, and may be most easily distinguished by color, as follows:—

Centurus.Back and wings banded transversely with black and white. Crown more or less red; rest of head with under parts grayish, and with red or yellow tinge on the middle of the abdomen. Rump white.

Melanerpes.Upper parts uniform black, without bands, with or without a white rump; variable beneath, but without transverse bands.

GenusCENTURUS,Swainson.

Centurus,Sw.Class. Birds, II, 1837, 310. (Type,C. carolinus.)

Zebrapicus,Malh.Mém. Acad. Metz, 1849, 360. (Type,C. carolinus.)

Gen. Char.Bill about the length of the head, or a little longer; decidedly compressed, except at the extreme base. A lateral ridge starting a little below the culmen at the base of the bill, and angular for half the length of the bill, then becoming obsolete, though traceable nearly to the tip. Culmen considerably curved from the base; gonys nearly straight. Nostrils very broad, elliptical; situated about midway on the side of the mandible, near the base; partly concealed. Outer pairs of toes unequal, the anterior toe longest. Wings long, broad; third to fifth primaries equal and longest. Tail-feathers rather narrow, stiffened.

The species are all banded above transversely with black and white; the rump white. The head and under parts are brown, or grayish, the latter sometimes much the lighter. The belly with a red or yellow tinge. The under tail-coverts with V-shaped dark marks. The North American species ofCenturusmay be arranged as follows:—

C. carolinus.Middle of belly reddish; whole crown and nape red in male. Nape, only, red in female.

Forehead reddish; beneath soiled ashy-white; abdomen pinkish-red; crissum with sagittate marks of dusky. Wing, 5.25; tail, 3.80; bill, 1.30.Hab.Eastern Province United States …var.carolinus.

Forehead smoky-white; beneath smoky-olive, middle of abdomen carmine-red; crissum with broad transverse bars of dusky. Wing, 4.50; tail, 2.60; bill, 1.08.Hab.Central America; Venezuela …var.tricolor.[129]

C. aurifrons.Middle of belly yellowish; red of crown, in male, confined to an ovoid vertical patch. Nape and forehead gamboge-yellow; white of rump and upper tail-coverts immaculate.Femalewithout any red on the crown.

Inner webs of middle tail-feathers unvariegated black. Lower parts dirty ashy-whitish, abdomen dilute gamboge-yellow. Wing, 5.20; tail, 3.60; bill, 1.50.Hab.Eastern Mexico, north to the Rio Grande …var.aurifrons.

Inner webs of middle tail-feathers spotted with white. Lower parts smoky-olive, belly bright orange-yellow. Wing, 4.70; tail, 2.80; bill, 1.16.Hab.Costa Rica …var.hoffmanni.[130]

C. uropygialis.Middle of the belly yellowish. Nape and forehead soft smoky grayish-brown.Femalewithout red or yellow on head. White of rump and upper tail-coverts with transverse dusky bars. Inner webs of middle tail-feathers spotted with white. Wing, 5.30; tail, 3.70; bill, 1.35.Hab.Western Mexico, north into Colorado, region of Middle Province of United States.

Illustration: Color plate 52PLATELII.

PLATELII.

PLATELII.

Illustration: Color plate 52 detail 11.Centurus carolinus.♂Pa., 868.

1.Centurus carolinus.♂Pa., 868.

1.Centurus carolinus.♂Pa., 868.

Illustration: Color plate 52 detail 22.Centurus uropygialis.♂Ariz., 6128.

2.Centurus uropygialis.♂Ariz., 6128.

2.Centurus uropygialis.♂Ariz., 6128.

Illustration: Color plate 52 detail 33.Centurus aurifrons.♂Texas, 6121.

3.Centurus aurifrons.♂Texas, 6121.

3.Centurus aurifrons.♂Texas, 6121.

Illustration: Color plate 52 detail 44.Centurus carolinus.♀6118.

4.Centurus carolinus.♀6118.

4.Centurus carolinus.♀6118.

Illustration: Color plate 52 detail 55.Centurus uropygialis.♀Ariz.

5.Centurus uropygialis.♀Ariz.

5.Centurus uropygialis.♀Ariz.

Illustration: Color plate detail6.Centurus aurifrons.♀Texas.

6.Centurus aurifrons.♀Texas.

6.Centurus aurifrons.♀Texas.

Centurus carolinus,Bonap.

RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER.

Picus carolinus,Linn.Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 174.—Wilson,Am. Orn. I, 1808, 113,pl. vii, f.2.—Aud.Orn. Biog. V, 1839, 169,pl. ccccxv.—Ib.BirdsAmer. IV, 1842, 270,pl. cclxx.—Max.Cab. Jour.1858, 418.—Sundevall,Consp.53.Centurus carolinus,Sw. Bp.List, 1838.—Ib.Conspectus,Av.1850, 119.—Baird,Birds N. Am.109.—Cab.Jour.1862, 324.—Dresser, Ibis, 1865, 469 (resident in Texas).—Scl.Cat.1862, 342.—Gray,Cat.99.—Allen,B. E. Fla.306.Centurus carolinensis,Sw.Birds,II, 1837, 310 (error).Picus griseus,Vieill.Ois. Am. Sept. II, 1807, 52,pl. cxvi.? Picus erythrauchen,Wagler,Syst.Avium, 1827.Picus zebra,Boddært,Tabl. pl. enl. (Gray, genera).

Sp. Char.Third, fourth, and fifth quills nearly equal, and longest; second, or outermost, and seventh about equal. Top of the 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-covert 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 theinner web; the outer web with a stripe of white along the middle. Length, 9.75; wing, about 5.00. Female with the crown ashy; forehead pale red; nape bright red.

Illustration: Centurus carolinusCenturus carolinus.865♂

Centurus carolinus.865♂

Hab.North America, from Atlantic coast to the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains. Localities: Texas (Dresser, Ibis, 1865, 469, resident).

Specimens vary considerably in size (with latitude), and in the tinge of reddish on chin, breast, etc. The width of the dorsal bands differs in different specimens. The rump is banded; upper tail-coverts are generally immaculate, but are sometimes dashed with black. Specimens from the Mississippi Valley are generally more brightly colored than those from the Atlantic States, the lower parts more strongly tinged with red. Florida examples are smaller than northern ones, the black bars broader, the lower parts deeper ashy and strongly tinged with red, but of a more purplish shade than in western ones.

Illustration: Centurus carolinusCenturus carolinus.

Centurus carolinus.

Habits.The Red-bellied Woodpecker is distributed throughout North America, from the Atlantic Coast to the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains. It is, however, much more abundant in the more southern and western portions. In the collections of the Smithsonian Institution none are recorded from farther north than Pennsylvania on the east and Nebraska Territory on the west, while others were obtained as far south as Florida. Nor am I aware that it is found, except very rarely, north of Pennsylvania on the Atlantic coast. I have never met with it in Eastern Massachusetts, although Mr. Audubon speaks of it as breeding from Maryland to Nova Scotia. Dr. Woodhouse found it common in the Indian Territory and in Texas. Wilson speaks of having found it abundant in Upper Canada, and in the northern parts of the State of New York. He also refers to its inhabiting the whole Atlantic States as far as Georgia and the southern extremity of Florida. Its absence in Eastern Massachusetts was noticed by Mr. Nuttall. It is not given by Thompson or Paine asone of the birds of Vermont, nor does Lieutenant Bland mention it as one of the birds of Nova Scotia, and it is not included by Sir John Richardson in theFauna Boreali-Americana.

Mr. Audubon speaks of it as generally more confined to the interior of forests than the Hairy Woodpecker, especially during the breeding-season. He further states that he never met with its nest in Louisiana or South Carolina, but that it was not rare in Kentucky, and that, from the State of Maryland to Nova Scotia, it breeds in all convenient places, usually more in the woods than out of them. He also states that he has found the nests in orchards in Pennsylvania, generally not far from the junction of a branch with the trunk. He describes the hole as bored in the ordinary manner. The eggs are seldom more than four in number, and measure 1.06 inches in length and .75 of an inch in breadth. They are of an elliptical form, smooth, pure white, and translucent. They are not known to raise more than one brood in a season.

Wilson speaks of this species as more shy and less domestic than the Red-headed or any of the other spotted Woodpeckers, and also as more solitary. He adds that it prefers the largest high-timbered woods and the tallest decayed trees of the forest, seldom appearing near the ground, on the fences, or in orchards or open fields. In regard to their nesting, he says that the pair, in conjunction, dig out a circular cavity for the nest in the lower side of some lofty branch that makes a considerable angle with the horizon. Sometimes they excavate this in the solid wood, but more generally in a hollow limb, some fifteen inches above where it becomes solid. This is usually done early in April. The female lays five eggs, of a pure white, or almost semi-transparent. The young generally make their appearance towards the latter part of May. Wilson was of the opinion that they produced two broods in a season.

Mr. Dresser found this bird resident and abundant in Texas. It is also equally abundant in Louisiana and in Florida, and Mr. Ridgway considers it very common in Southern Illinois. Neither Mr. Boardman nor Mr. Verrill have found it in Maine. Mr. McIlwraith has, however, taken three specimens at Hamilton, Canada West, May 3, near Chatham. Mr. Allen gives it as a summer visitant in Western Massachusetts, having seen one on the 13th of May, 1863. It has also been taken several times in Connecticut, by Professor Emmons, who met with it, during the breeding-season, in the extreme western part of the State. Mr. Lawrence has found it near New York City, and Mr. Turnbull in Eastern Pennsylvania.

The eggs vary from an oblong to a somewhat rounded oval shape, are of a bright crystalline whiteness, and their measurements average 1.02 inches in length by .88 of an inch in breadth.

Centurus aurifrons,Gray.

YELLOW-BELLIED WOODPECKER.

Picus aurifrons,Wagler, Isis, 1829, 512.—Sundevall,Consp. Pic.53.Centurus aurifrons,Gray, Genera.—Cabanis,Jour.1862, 323.—Cooper,Orn. Cal.1, 1870, 399.Centurus flaviventris,Swainson,Anim. in Menag.1838 (2½ centenaries), 354.—Baird,Birds N. Am.1858, 110,pl. xlii.—Heermann,P. R. Rep. X, c, 18.—Dresser, Ibis, 1865, 469 (resident in Texas).—Ib.Rep. Mex. Bound. II, 5,pl. iv.Centurus elegans,Lawrence,Ann. N. Y. Lyc. V, May, 1851, 116.Centurus santacruzi,Lawrence,Ann. N. Y. Lyc. V, 1851, 123 (not ofBonap.).Picus ornatus,Less.Rev. Zoöl.1839, 102.

Sp. Char.Fourth and fifth quills nearly equal; third a little shorter; longer than the fourth. Back banded transversely with black and white; rump and upper tail-coverts pure white. Crown with a subquadrate spot of crimson, about half an inch wide and long; and separated from the gamboge-yellow at the base of the bill by dirty white, from the orbit and occiput by brownish-ash. Nape half-way round the neck orange-yellow. Under part generally, and sides of head, dirty white. Middle of belly gamboge-yellow. Tail-feathers all entirely black, except the outer, which has some obscure bars of white. Length about 9.50; wing, 5.00. Female without the red of the crown.

Hab.Rio Grande region of the United States, south into Mexico. Probably Arizona. Localities: Orizaba (Scl.P. Z. S.1860, 252); Texas, south of San Antonio (Dresser, Ibis, 1865, 469, resident).

Young birds are not different from adults, except in showing indication of dark shaft-lines beneath, becoming broader behind on the sides. The yellow of the nape extends over the whole side of the head.

Habits.This beautiful Woodpecker is abundant throughout the valley of the Rio Grande, from Eagle Pass to its mouth; how far to the west within our boundaries it occurs, I am not able to state. It is common throughout Mexico, and was found in the Guatemalan collection of Van Patten, though not mentioned by Sclater and Salvin. Dr. Woodhouse, in his Report on the zoölogy of Captain Sitgreaves’s expedition, speaks of finding it quite abundant in the neighborhood of San Antonio, Texas. He adds that west of the Rio San Pedro he did not meet with it. He speaks of it as having a loud, sharp cry, which it utters as it flies from tree to tree. He observed it mostly on the trunks of the mesquite (Algarobia), diligently searching in the usual manner of Woodpeckers. In the Report upon the birds of the Mexican Boundary Survey, it is mentioned by Mr. Clark as abundant on the Lower Rio Grande, as very shy, and as keeping chiefly about the mesquite. Lieutenant Couch speaks of it as very common throughout Tamaulipas.

Mr. Dresser found the Yellow-bellied Woodpecker plentiful from the Rio Grande to San Antonio, and as far north and east as the Guadaloupe, after which he lost sight of it. Wherever the mesquite-trees were large, there it was sure to be found, and very sparingly elsewhere. Near San Antonio it is quite common, but not so much so as theC. carolinus. At Eagle Pass, however, it was the more abundant of the two. He found itbreeding near San Antonio, boring for its nest-hole into a mesquite-tree. Mr. Dresser was informed by Dr. Heermann, who has seen many of their nests, that he never found them in any other tree.

These birds were found breeding by Dr. Berlandier, and his collection. contained quite a number of their eggs. Nothing was found among his papers in relation to their habits or their manner of breeding. Their eggs, procured by him, are of an oblong-oval shape, and measure 1.05 inches in length by .85 of an inch in breadth.

Centurus uropygialis,Baird.

GILA WOODPECKER.

Centurus uropygialis,Baird,Pr. A. N. Sc. Ph. VII, June, 1854, 120 (Bill Williams River,N. M.)—Ib.Birds N. Am.1858,III, pl. xxxvi.—Cab.Jour.1862, 330.—Sundevall,Consp.54.—Kennerly,P. R. R. X, bpl. xxxvi.—Heermann,X, c, 17.Coues,Pr. Avi.1866, 54 (S.Arizona).—Cooper,Orn. Cal.1, 1870, 399.Centurus hypopolius, (Bp.)Pucheran,Rev. et Mag.1853, 163 (notPicus (Centurus) hypopolius,Wagler).Zebrapicus kaupii,Malherbe, 1855.—Gray,Catal.Br. Mex.Centurus sulfureiventer,Reichenbach, Handbuch, Picinæ,Oct.1854, 410, figs. 4411, 4412.

Sp. Char.Third, fourth, and fifth quills longest, and about equal. Back, rump, and upper tail-coverts transversely barred with black and white, purest on the two latter. Head and neck all round pale dirty-brown, or brownish-ash, darkest above. A small subquadrate patch of red on the middle of the crown, separated from the bill by dirty white. Middle of the abdomen gamboge-yellow; under tail-coverts and anal region strongly barred with black. First and second outer tail-feathers banded black and white, as is also the inner web of the inner tail-feather; the outer web of the latter with a white stripe. Length, about 9.00; wing, 5.00. Female with the head uniform brownish-ash, without any red or yellow.

Hab.Lower Colorado River of the West, to CapeSt.Lucas. South to Mazatlan. Localities: W. Arizona (Coues,P. A. N. S.1866, 54).

Habits.This species was first discovered by Dr. Kennerly in his route along the 35th parallel, and described by Professor Baird, in 1854. The Doctor encountered it almost continually during the entire march along the Big Sandy, Bill Williams Fork, and the Great Colorado; but it was so very shy that he had great difficulty in procuring specimens. Seated in the top of the tree, it was ever on guard; and, upon the approach of danger, flew away, accompanying its flight with the utterance of very peculiar notes. Its flight was in an undulating line, like that of other birds of this class.

Dr. Heermann found this Woodpecker abundant on the banks of the Gila River among the mesquite-trees. The giant cactus, often forty feet high, which grows abundantly on the arid hillsides throughout that whole section of country, was frequently found filled with holes bored out by this bird. The pith of the plant is extracted until a chamber of suitable size is obtained, when the juice exuding from the wounded surface hardens, and forms a smooth dry coating to the cavity, thus making a convenientplace for the purposes of incubation. At Tucson, in Arizona, he found it frequenting the cornfields, where it might be seen alighting on the old hedge-posts in search of insects. Its note, he adds, resembles very much that of the Red-headed Woodpecker. He afterwards met with this bird in California, in considerable numbers, on the Colorado. Besides its ordinary notes, resembling those of theMelanerpes erythrocephalus, it varies them with a soft plaintive cry, as if hurt or wounded. He found their stomachs filled with the white gelatinous berry of a parasitic plant which grows abundantly on the mesquite-trees, and the fruit of which forms the principal food of many species of birds during the fall.

Dr. Coues gives this bird as rare and probably accidental in the immediate vicinity of Fort Whipple, but as a common bird in the valleys of the Gila and of the Lower Colorado, where it has the local name ofSuwarrow, orSaguaro, on account of its partiality for the large cactuses, with the juice of which plant its plumage is often found stained.

Dr. Cooper found this Woodpecker abundant in winter at Fort Mohave, when they feed chiefly on the berries of the mistletoe, and are very shy. He rarely saw them pecking at the trees, but they seemed to depend for a living on insects, which were numerous on the foliage during the spring. They have a loud note of alarm, strikingly similar to that of thePhainopepla nitens, which associated with them in the mistletoe-boughs.

About the 25th of March he found them preparing their nests in burrows near the dead tops of trees, none of them, so far as he saw, being accessible. By the last of May they had entirely deserted the mistletoe, and were probably feeding their young on insects.

GenusMELANERPES,Swainson.

Melanerpes,Swainson,F. B. A. II, 1831. (Type,Picus erythrocephalus.)

Melampicus(Section 3),Malherbe,Mém. Ac.Metz, 1849, 365.

Asyndesmus,Coues,Pr. A. N. S.1866, 55. (Type,Picus torquatus.)

Gen. Char.Bill about equal to the head; broader than high at the base, but becoming compressed immediately anterior to the commencement of the gonys. Culmen and gonys with a moderately decided angular ridge; both decidedly curved from the very base. A rather prominent acute ridge commences at the base of the mandible, a little below the ridge of the culmen, and proceeds but a short distance anterior to the nostrils (about one third of the way), when it sinks down, and the bill is then smooth. The lateral outlines are gently concave from the basal two thirds; then gently convex to the tip, which does not exhibit any abrupt bevelling. Nostrils open, broadly oval; not concealed by the feathers, nor entirely basal. Fork of chin less than half lower jaw. The outer pair of toes equal. Wings long, broad; lengthened. Tail-feathers broad, with lengthened points.

The species all have the back black, without any spots or streaks anywhere.

Illustration: Melanerpes erythrocephalusMelanerpes erythrocephalus.883♀

Melanerpes erythrocephalus.883♀

Dr. Coues placesM. torquatusin a new genus,Asyndesmus, characterized by a peculiar texture of the under part and nuchal collar, in which thefibres are disconnected on their terminal portion, enlarged and stiffened, almost bristle-like; otherwise the characters are much as inMelanerpes. It should, however, be noted, that the feathers of the red portion of the head in the other species have the same texture.

Species and Varieties.

A.Sexes similar.Youngvery different from the adult.

M. torquatus.Feathers of the lower parts, as well as of frontal, lateral, and under portions of the head, with the fibres bristle-like. (Asyndesmus,Coues.) Upper parts wholly uniform, continuous, very metallic blackish-green.Adult.Forehead, lores, cheeks, and chin deep crimson, of a burnt-carmine tint; jugulum, breast, and a ring entirely around the nape, grayish-white; abdomen light carmine. Back glossed with purplish-bronze.Youngwithout the red of the head, and lacking the grayish nuchal collar; abdomen only tinged with red, no purple or bronze tints above. Wing, 6.70; tail, 4.50.Hab.Western Province of the United States, from the Black Hills to the Pacific.

M. erythrocephalus.Feathers generally soft, blended; those of the whole head and neck with stiffened and bristle-like fibres in the adult. Secondaries, rump, and upper tail-coverts, with whole lower parts from the neck, continuous pure white. Two lateral tail-feathers tipped with white.Adult.Whole head and neck bright venous-crimson or blood-red, with a black convex posterior border across the jugulum; back, wings, and tail glossy blue-black.Young.Head and neck grayish, streaked with dusky; back and scapulars grayish, spotted with black; secondaries with two or three black bands; breast tinged with grayish, and with sparse dusky streaks. Wing, 5.90; tail, 3.90.Hab.Eastern Province of the United States, west to the Rocky Mountains.

B.Sexes dissimilar; young like the adult.

M. formicivorus.Forehead and a broad crescent across the middle of the throat (the two areas connected by a narrow strip across the lore), white, more or less tinged with sulphur-yellow. Rump, upper tail-coverts, abdomen,sides, and crissum, with patch on base of primaries, pure white, the sides and breast with black streaks. Other portions glossy blue-black.

♂. Whole crown and nape carmine.♀with the occiput and nape alone red.

More than the anterior half of the pectoral band immaculate.

♀with the white frontal, black coronal, and red occipital bands of about equal width. Forehead and throat only slightly tinged with sulphur-yellow. Wing, 5.80; tail, 3.90; bill, 1.27.Hab.Pacific Province of United States, and Northern and Western Mexico…var.formicivorus.

♀with the white frontal band only about half as wide as the black coronal, which is only about half as wide as the red occipital, band or patch. Forehead and throat bright sulphur-yellow. Wing, 5.40; tail, 3.65; bill, 1.23.Hab.Lower California …var.angustifrons.

Nearly the whole of the black pectoral band variegated with white streaks.

Relative width of the white, black, and red areas on the crown as informicivorus. Wing, 5.50; tail, 3.75; bill, 1.22.Hab.Middle America, south of Orizaba and Mirador …var.striatipectus.[131]

♂. Nape, only, red (as in females of preceding races);♀without any red.

Whole breast streaked, the black and white being in about equal amount. Wing, 5.70; tail, 3.90; bill, 1.20.Hab.New Granada …var.flavigula.[132]

Melanerpes torquatus,Bonap.

LEWIS’S WOODPECKER.

Picus torquatus,Wilson,Am. Orn. III, 1811, 31,pl. xx.—Wagler,Syst. Av.1827,No.82.—Aud.Orn. Biog. V, 1839, 176,pl. ccccxvi.—Ib.BirdsAmer. IV, 1842, 280,pl. cclxxii.—Sundevall,Consp.51.Melanerpes torquatus,Bp.Consp.1850, 115.—Heermann,J. A. N. Sc. Phil.2d ser. II, 1853, 270.—Newberry,Zoöl. Cal. & Or.Route, 90, inP. R. R. Surv. VI, 1857.—Baird,Birds N. Am.115.—Cooper & Suckley, 161.—Cassin.Pr. A. N. S.1863, 327.—Lord,Pr. R. A. Inst.IV, 1864, 112 (nesting).—Cooper,Orn. Cal.1, 1870, 406.Picus montanus,Ord.in Guthrie’sGeog. 2d Am. ed. II, 1815, 316.Picus lewisii,Drapiez.(Gray.)Asyndesmus torquatus,Coues,Pr. A. N. S.1866, 55.

Sp. Char.Feathers on the under parts bristle-like. Fourth quill longest; then third and fifth. Above dark glossy-green. Breast, lower part of the neck, and a narrow collar all round, hoary grayish-white. Around the base of the bill and sides of the head tobehind the eyes, dark crimson. Belly blood-red, streaked finely with hoary whitish. Wings and tail entirely uniform dark glossy-green. Female similar. Length about 10.50; wing, 6.50. Young without the nuchal collar, and the red of head replaced by black.

Hab.Western America from Black Hills to Pacific.

The peculiarities in the feathers of the under parts have already been adverted to. This structure appears to be essentially connected with the red feathers, since these have the same texture in the other species of the genus, wherever the color occurs. The remark may perhaps apply generally to the red feathers of most, if not all, Woodpeckers, and may be connected with some chemical or physical condition yet to be determined.

Habits.Lewis’s Woodpecker would seem to have a distribution throughout the Pacific Coast, from the sea-shore to the mountains, and from Puget Sound to the Gulf of California, and extending to the eastern border of the Great Plains, within the limits of the United States. They were first observed by Messrs. Lewis and Clarke, in their memorable journey to the Pacific. Subsequently Mr. Nuttall met with them in his westward journey, in the central chain of the Rocky Mountains. This was in the month of July. Among the cedar and pine woods of Bear River, on the edge of Upper California, he found them inhabiting the decayed trunks of the pine-trees, and already feeding their young. Afterwards, at the close of August, he met them in flocks on the plains, sixty miles up the Wahlamet. He describes them as very unlike Woodpeckers in their habits, perching in dense flocks, like Starlings, neither climbing branches nor tapping in the manner of their tribe, but darting after insects and devouring berries, like Thrushes. He saw them but seldom, either in the dense forests of the Columbia or in any settled part of California.

Townsend speaks of their arriving about the first of May on Bear River and the Columbia. Both sexes incubate, according to his observations.

Dr. Gambel first observed this Woodpecker in a belt of oak timber near the Mission ofSt.Gabriel, in California, and states that it was abundant. He also describes its habits as peculiar, and unlike the generality of Woodpeckers. Dr. Heermann, too, speaks of finding it in all the parts of California which he visited. Dr. Newberry, in his Notes on the zoölogy of Lieutenant Williamson’s expedition, refers to it as most unlike the California Woodpecker in the region it occupies and in its retiring habits. He describes it as seeming to choose, for its favorite haunts, the evergreen forests upon the rocky declivities of the Cascade and Rocky Mountains. He first observed it in Northern California, but subsequently noticed it in the mountains all the way to the Columbia. Though often seen in low elevations, it was evidently alpine in its preferences, and was found most frequently near the line of perpetual snow; and when crossing the snow lines, in the mountain-passes, it was often observed flying far above the party. He describes it as being always shy, and difficult to shoot.

Dr. S. W. Woodhouse describes this species as being common in the IndianTerritory and in New Mexico; while Dr. Cooper, in his Report on the zoölogy of Washington Territory, speaks of it as being common, during summer, in all the interior districts, but seldom or never approaching the coast. It arrives at Puget Sound early in May, and some even remain, during mild winters, in the Territory. According to his account, it burrows holes for its nests at all heights from the ground, but commonly in dead trees. The eggs are described as pure white, and, when fresh, translucent, like those of all the Woodpecker tribe, and hardly distinguishable in size and general appearance from those of the Golden-winged Woodpecker (Colaptes auratus). Its harsh call is rarely uttered in summer, when it seems to seek concealment for itself and nest. The flocks of young, which in fall associate together to the number of eight or ten, are more noisy. Dr. Suckley, in the same Report (page 162), speaks of this Woodpecker as being very abundant throughout the more open portions of the timbered region of the northwest coast, preferring oak openings and groves. At Fort Dalles, on the Columbia, they are extremely numerous, not only breeding there during summer, but also found as winter residents. Their breeding-places are generally holes in oak and other trees, which, from the appearance of all he examined, seemed to have been excavated for the purpose. At Puget Sound this species was found less frequently than at Fort Dalles, on the Columbia. At the latter place they were constant winter residents. Dr. Suckley also speaks of them as being semi-gregarious in their habits.

Mr. Lord thinks that this Woodpecker is not to be met with west of the Cascade Mountains, but says it is very often found between the Cascades and the Rocky Mountains, where it frequents the open timber. The habits and modes of flight of this bird, he states, are not the least like a Woodpecker’s. It flies with a heavy flapping motion, much like a Jay, feeds a good deal on the ground, and chases insects on the wing like a Shrike or a Kingbird. Whilst mating they assemble in large numbers, and keep up a continual, loud, chattering noise. They arrive at Colville in April, begin nesting in May, and leave again in October. The nest is in a hole in a dead pine-tree, usually at a considerable height from the ground.

Dr. Coues says this bird is very common at Fort Whipple, in Arizona, where it remained in moult until November.

Mr. J. A. Allen found this the most numerous of thePicidæin Colorado Territory. He also states that it differs considerably in its habits from all the other Woodpeckers. He frequently noticed it rising high into the air almost vertically, and to a great height, apparently in pursuit of insects, and descending again as abruptly, to repeat the same manœuvre. It was met with by Mr. Ridgway in the Sacramento Valley, along the eastern base of the Sierra Nevada, and in the East Humboldt Mountains. In the first-mentioned locality it was the most abundant Woodpecker, and inhabited the scattered oaks of the plains. In the second region it was very abundant—perhaps more so than any other species—among the scattered pines alongthe very base of the eastern slope; and in the last-mentioned place was observed on a few occasions among the tall aspens bordering the streams in the lower portions of the cañons. In its habits it is described as approaching most closely to our common Red-headed Woodpecker (M. erythrocephalus), but possessing many very distinctive peculiarities. In the character of its notes it quite closely approximates to our common Redhead, but they are weaker and of a more twittering character; and in its lively playful disposition it even exceeds it. It has a very peculiar and characteristic habit of ascending high into the air, and taking a strange, floating flight, seemingly laborious, as if struggling against the wind, and then descending in broad circles to the trees.

The eggs are more spherical than are usually those of theColaptes auratus, are of a beautiful crystalline whiteness, and measure 1.10 inches in length and .92 of an inch in breadth.

Melanerpes erythrocephalus,Swainson.

RED-HEADED WOODPECKER.

Picus erythrocephalus,Linn.Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 174.—Vieillot,Ois. Am. Sept. II, 1807, 60,pl. cxii, cxiii.—Wilson,Am. Orn. I, 1810, 142,pl. ix, fig. 1.—Wagler,Syst. Av.1827,No.14.—Ib.Isis, 1829, 518 (young).—Aud.Orn. Biog. I, 1832, 141;V, 536,pl. xxvii.—Ib.Birds America,IV, 1842, 274,pl. cclxxi.—Max.Cab. J. VI, 1858, 419.Melanerpes erythrocephalus,Sw.F. B. A. II, 1831, 316.—Bon.List, 1838.—Ib.Conspectus, 1850, 115.—Gambel,J. Ac. Nat. Sc. Ph.2d ser. I, 1847, 55.—Baird,Birds N. Am.1858, 113.—Scl.Cat.1862, 340.—Samuels, 102.—Cooper,Orn. Cal.1, 1870, 402.—Allen,B. E. Fla.307.Picus obscurus,Gm.I, 1788, 429 (young).—Red-headed Woodpecker,Pennant,Kalm,Latham.White-rumped Woodpecker,Latham.

Sp. Char.Head and neck all round crimson-red, margined by a narrow crescent of black on the upper part of the breast. Back, primary quills, and tail bluish-black. Under parts generally, a broad band across the middle of the wing, and the rump, white. The female is not different. Length, about 9.75; wing, 5.50. Bill bluish-white, darker terminally; iris chestnut; feet olive-gray. Young without any red, the head and neck being grayish streaked with dusky; breast with an ashy tinge, and streaked sparsely with dusky; secondaries with two or three bands of black; dorsal region clouded with grayish.

Hab.Eastern Province of United States to base of Rocky Mountains, sometimes straggling westward to coast of California (Gambel). Salt Lake City, Utah (Ridgway). Otherlocalities: Nueces to Brazos, Texas (Dresser, Ibis, 1865, 469, breeds).

Western specimens frequently have the abdomen strongly tinged with salmon-red, or orange-red, and are generally more deeply colored than eastern.

Habits.The Red-headed Woodpecker is one of the most familiar birds of this family, and ranges over a wide extent of territory. Excepting where it has been exterminated by the persecutions of indiscriminate destroyers, it is everywhere a very abundant species. Once common, it is now rarely metwith in the neighborhood of Boston, though in the western part of Massachusetts it is still to be found. In the collections of the Smithsonian Institution are specimens from Pennsylvania, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Louisiana, the Indian Territory, etc. Sir John Richardson speaks of it as ranging in summer as far north as the northern shores of Lake Huron. He also remarks that in the Hudson Bay Museum there is a specimen from the banks of the Columbia River. Dr. Gambel, in his paper on the birds of California, states that he saw many of them in a belt of oak timber near the Mission ofSt.Gabriel. As, however, Dr. Heermann did not meet with it in California, and as no other collector has obtained specimens in that State, this is probably a mistake. With the exception of Dr. Woodhouse, who speaks of having found this species in the Indian Territory and in Texas, it is not mentioned by any of the government exploring parties. It may therefore be assigned a range extending, in summer, as far north as Labrador, and westward to the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains. Throughout the year it is a permanent resident only of the more southern States, where it is, however, much less abundant in summer than it is in Pennsylvania.

Wilson, at the time of his writing (1808), speaks of finding several of the nests of this Woodpecker within the boundaries of the then city of Philadelphia, two of them being in buttonwood-trees and one in the decayed limb of an elm. The parent birds made regular excursions to the woods beyond the Schuylkill, and preserved a silence and circumspection in visiting their nest entirely unlike their habits in their wilder places of residence. The species is altogether migratory, visiting the Middle and Northern States early in May and leaving in October. It begins the construction of its nest almost immediately after its first appearance, as with other members of its family, by excavations made in the trunk or larger limbs of trees, depositing six white eggs on the bare wood. The cavities for their nests are made almost exclusively in dead wood, rarely, if ever, in the living portion of the tree. In Texas, Louisiana, Kentucky, and the Carolinas, they have two broods in a season, but farther north than this they rarely raise more than one. Their eggs are usually six in number, and, like all the eggs of this family, are pure white and translucent when fresh. They vary a little in their shape, but are usually slightly more oval and less spherical than those of several other species. Mr. Nuttall speaks of the eggs of this bird as being said to be marked at the larger end with reddish spots. I have never met with any thus marked, and as Mr. Nuttall does not give it as from his own observations I have no doubt that it is a mistake. Mr. Paine, of Randolph,Vt., writes that he has only seen a single specimen of this Woodpecker in that part of Vermont, while on the western side of the Green Mountains they are said to be very common. He adds that it is a tradition among his older neighbors that these Woodpeckers were formerly everywhere known throughout all portions of the State.

Mr. Ridgway saw a single individual of this species in the outskirts of Salt Lake City, in July, 1869.

Their eggs vary both in size and in shape, from a spherical to an oblong-oval, the latter being the more usual. Their length varies from 1.10 to 1.15 inches, and their breadth from .80 to .90 of an inch.

Melanerpes formicivorus,var.formicivorus,Bonap.

CALIFORNIA WOODPECKER.

Picus formicivorus,Swainson,Birds Mex.inPhilos. Mag. I, 1827, 439 (Mexico).—Vigors,Zoöl.Blossom, 1839, 23 (Monterey).—Nuttall,Man. I,2d ed.1840.Melanerpes formicivorus,Bp.Conspectus, 1850, 115.—Heermann,J. A. N. Sc. Phil.2dseries,II, 1853, 270.—Cassin,Illust. II, 1853, 11,pl. ii.—Newberry,Zoöl. Cal.& Oregon Route, 90,P. R. R. Surv. VI, 1857.—Baird,Birds N. Am.1868, 114.—Sumichrast,Mem. Bost. Soc. I, 1865, 562 (correcting an error of Saussure).—Cassin,Pr. A. N. S.63, 328.—Heermann,P. R. R. X, 58 (nesting).—Baird,Rep. M. Bound. II, Birds, 6.—Sclater,Pr. Z. S.1858, 305 (Oaxaca).—Ib.Ibis, 137 (Honduras).—Cab.Jour.1862, 322 (Costa Rica).—Coues,Pr. A. N. S.1866, 55.—Cooper,Orn. Cal. I, 1870, 403.Picus melanopogon,Temminck,Pl.Color.IV, (1829?pl. ccccli.—Wagler, Isis, 1829,v, 515.—Sundevall,Consp.51.

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