The ANT-EATING BLACK WOODPECKER (_Melanerpes formicivorus_) is an
inhabitant of California and Mexico. Its body is black; the brow, a spot
on the exterior quills, the anterior border of the hinder quills, and the
rump are white; the top of the head as far as the nape is light red; the
throat and a band upon the breast are black; the region of the throat is
relieved by the sulphur-yellow feathers, by which the black portion is
surrounded; the back and sides are streaked longitudinally with white; the
eye is yellow, the beak and feet are black. This species is nine inches
long; the wing measures five inches and a quarter, and the tail two and a
quarter.
"The _Melanerpes formicivorus_," Hermann tells us, "is the noisiest and
most numerous of all the Woodpeckers inhabiting California. During the
summer these birds are constantly to be seen chasing their insect prey
about the topmost branches of the trees, and in autumn are equally busy
in laying up a store of acorns against the approach of winter. This is
accomplished by boring a series of holes in the trunk of a tree, into each
of which an acorn is so firmly introduced as to render its extrication a
work of difficulty. An oak or pine tree thus pierced often presents the
appearance of being studded with a multitude of bronze nails."
* * * * *
The VARIEGATED WOODPECKERS (_Picus_) constitute a group of small or
moderate-sized and compactly-built birds. Their straight beak almost
equals the head in length, and is as broad as it is high at the base; the
toes are short, and in some species but three in number; in the wing the
third quill is the longest; and the tail is conical. The plumage is black,
marked with white, and enlivened in some parts by an intermixture of red
or yellow. The various members of this group inhabit all those parts of
the earth frequented by their congeners, with the exception of Central and
Southern Africa.