Wings, tail, and upper parts glossy blue-black; rump, exposed
secondaries, and under parts from breast downward
pure white; _head_, _neck_, and _breast crimson._ _Sexes alike._
Young with red and black wholly or partly replaced by
grayish brown; can be recognized by white markings. 9.5
inches.
United States, west to Rocky Mountains; rare east of
Hudson River, but ordinarily breeding wherever found;
in winter usually migratory from its northern limits, the
migration depending principally upon the food supply
and depth of snow.
16. MELANERPES FORMICIVORUS, _Ant-eating Woodpecker_.
Upper parts, wings, and tail glossy greenish black; _rump_
and lower parts _white_; white patch on primaries, conspicuous
in flight; upper throat and line about the bill dull
black; _forehead_ with _wide white band_; lower _throat sulphur
yellow_; breast and sides thickly streaked with black and
white. [M] with crown and occiput crimson;
[F] with crown black, occiput crimson.
Iris white. 7-9 inches.
Mexico; western Texas.
a. _M. f. angustifrons_, _Narrow-fronted Woodpecker_.
Similar, but with a _narrow band of white_ across the _forehead_;
breast and sides not so thickly streaked.
Lower California, never occurring within the borders of
the United States.
b. _M. f. bairdi_, _Californian Woodpecker_, _El Carpintero_.
Similar to _M. formicivorus_, but the breast black, little
streaked with white except along the sides; yellow of throat
paler, or replaced by white. Iris white. Larger, 7.5-9.5
inches.
Pacific coast, north into Oregon to 44 deg., east to southern
New Mexico and Texas in the south and to the eastern
slopes of the Sierra Nevada and Cascade Mountains in
the north, but more abundant, on the western than on the
eastern slopes of these mountains.
17. MELANERPES TORQUATUS, _Lewis's Woodpecker_.
Upper parts, wings, and tail glossy greenish black; under
parts _pinkish red_; chest and _collar round hind neck hoary
gray_; crown and sides of head black; forehead, cheeks, and
chin crimson. _Sexes alike._ Young with pink replaced by
grayish. 10.5-11.5 inches.
Pacific coast, east to Black Hills and Rocky Mountains
between Arizona and 49th parallel; casual still farther
east; migratory in its northern ranges; a silent, heavy
flying bird, different in habits and appearance from the
other woodpeckers; often seen flycatching.
18. MELANERPES CAROLINUS, _Red-bellied Woodpecker_, _Zebra Bird_.
Back and wings black, _barred with white_; under and upper
tail coverts, middle and outer tail feathers, white varied with
black; head and under parts ashy; _belly tinged with reddish_.
[M] with whole top of head and nape bright red;
[F] with forehead and nape red, crown gray. 9-10
inches.
Eastern and Southern States between the Hudson River
and the Rocky Mountains, north to southern New York,
Ohio, southern Michigan, etc.; migratory in its northern
ranges.
19. MELANERPES AURIFRONS, _Golden-fronted Woodpecker_.
Back and wings barred with black and white; rump white; entire
under parts brownish white, unspotted (except under tail
coverts); primaries unspotted, except at tip; tail black with
slightly barred outer feathers; _belly yellowish; forehead and
hind neck orange in both sexes_. [M] with _crown
red_ set in a larger patch of clear gray; [F]
with crown clear gray. 9.5 inches.
Central and southern Texas, north to about 33 deg.; breeds
wherever found.
20. MELANERPES UROPYGIALIS, _Gila Woodpecker_.
Back and wings barred with black and white; _head and
lower parts smoky brown_; rump black and white; tail barred
on inner and outer feathers; primaries unspotted; belly yellow
(not conspicuous). [M] with red crown surrounded by
brownish; "iris red" (Hayden). 9 inches.
Southwestern New Mexico and Arizona to southeastern
California, usually above 2000 feet altitude; its distribution
depending principally upon the giant cactus.
21. COLAPTES AURATUS, _Flicker_, _Yellow-hammer_, _High-hole_,
_Clape_.
Back and wings (except primaries) brownish gray, barred with
black; under parts pale vinaceous spotted with black spots from
breast downward; _rump white; tail and wings golden yellow
beneath_, dark above, showing the yellow shafts; tail feathers
with black tips below; top of head ashy gray, sides of head and
throat vinaceous; a broad _black crescent_ across breast, a
bright scarlet one on nape. [M] _with black jaw
patches_; [F] without them. 12 inches.
South Atlantic and Gulf region, north to North Carolina.
a. _C. a. luteus_, _Northern Flicker_.
Larger; paler; black bars above narrower; less black and
white below.
North from North Carolina and west to the Rocky Mountains;
casual farther west; migratory from its northern
ranges.
22. COLAPTES CAFER, _Red-shafted Flicker_.
Color pattern similar to above with the following differences:
_wings and tail red beneath_ instead of yellow; throat ashy
gray; usually no red on occiput (though some specimens show a
narrow crescent). [M] _with red jaw patches_.
12.5-14 inches.
Rocky Mountain region west to Pacific coast from
Mexico to British Columbia, except northwest coast
region of Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia,
and occasionally east to Kansas and Nebraska; resident
except in the more northern portions of its range.
a. _C. c. saturatior_, _Northwestern Flicker_.
Darker; smaller; narrower breast crescent.
Northwest coast, replacing the above, from which it cannot
be separated in life.
23. COLAPTES CHRYSOIDES, _Gilded Flicker_; _Cactus Flicker_.
Color pattern same as _C. auratus_, but throat gray; top of head
brown; _occiput without band_; tail band broader and yellow
paler than in _C. auratus_. [M] with _jaw patches
bright red_; "iris blood red" (Hayden).
Central and southern Arizona and Lower California.
a. _C. c. brunescens_, _Brown Flicker_.
A curious subspecies of the last, smaller, with larger,
more numerous spots and a smoky brown cast of plumage;
black tail band very wide; jaw patches red; wings and tail
yellow beneath.
Lower (not southern) California; casual only in southern
California; in Arizona to 35 deg.
24. COLAPTES RUFIPILEUS, _Guadalupe Island Flicker_.
Coloration like _C. cafer_, crown decidedly brown; crescent
on nape wanting; jaw patches red; wings and tail _red_ beneath.
Guadalupe Island off the coast of Lower California.
INDEX
Aard-vark, 104.
Acorns, eaten by woodpeckers, 46, 51, 57, 58, 59.
Acquired habits, 61-66.
Adaptations of woodpeckers to environment,104-109.
Ant-bear, 104, 106.
Ants, as food for woodpeckers, 3, 30, 63, 105, 106.
Argument from design, 110.
Bear, black, 107.
Beechnuts, as food for woodpeckers, 57, 58, 59.
Beetles, as food for woodpeckers, 3, 11, 63.
Bill of woodpeckers as a tool, 68-76.
Borers, 3, 10, 11, 29, 30, 36.
Burroughs, John, quoted, 17.
Cacti, woodpeckers nesting in, 20.
Cannibalism among woodpeckers, 64.
Carpenter, the. _See_ California woodpecker.
Carpintero, El. _See_ California woodpecker.
Caterpillars, as food for woodpeckers, 10, 11, 29, 63.
Cecropia chrysalids, eaten by woodpeckers, 9.
Chestnuts, eaten by woodpeckers, 59.
Chickadee, 16, 21, 25, 30, 32, 74.
Chipmunks, hoarding food, 60.
Clape. _See_ Flicker.
Creeper, brown, 5, 81, 87, 88.
Crossbills, eating salted food, 31.
Crow, hoarding habit, 60; 74.
Cuckoo, ground, 82.
Cuckoos, yoke-toed, 5, 82.
Drumming of yellow-bellied sapsucker, 16, 17.
Evolution, 109, 112.
Feeding young, how the flicker does it, 24, 25.
Fence-posts used by woodpeckers, 48, 56, 58.
Finch, purple, 39.
Finches, 74.
Fish-spears, 12, 13.
Flicker, 6, 7, 15, 18, 20, 23-26, 73, 74, 82, 88, 89, 95, 97-99,
101, 103, 106, 125.
brown, 126.
cactus, 126.
gilded, 126.
Guadalupe Island, 127.
northern, 126.
northwestern, 126.
red-shafted, 126.
Flycatching habits of woodpeckers, 7, 56, 106, 124.
Foot, of a four-toed woodpecker figured, 77.
of a three-toed woodpecker figured, 80.
discussed as a tool, 77-85.
Grasshoppers, as food for woodpeckers, 3, 56, 63.
Grosbeaks, pine, 39.
Grouse, ruffed, 14, 15.
Grouse, sharp-tailed, 15.
Hawk, sparrow, 21.
High-hole. _See_ Flicker.
Hoarding habits, 62, 63.
Hummingbird, Anna's, 27.
Hummingbirds, 25, 103.
Hyoid bones, 100-103.
Jay, blue, hoarding habit, 53, 60.
Kinglets, 5.
Lightning rods attracting woodpeckers, 18.
Logcock. _See_ Woodpecker, pileated.
Maple, rock and red, sugar made from, 36.
Maize, eaten by English sparrows, 62, 65.
Mandibles of woodpeckers, 13, 101.
Martin, sand, 20.
Mice, hoarding habit, 60.
Migration, dependent upon food supply, 63.
Mountain-ash trees, sought by woodpeckers, 38.
Nesting of woodpeckers, 20-23.
Nests, in unusual places, 20.
North America, ornithologically defined, 114.
Nuthatches, 5, 21, 30, 81.
Oaks, used by Californian woodpecker for storing nuts, 48, 49.
Oranges, eaten by woodpeckers, 65, 66.
Owls, 15, 21, 80.
Pangolin, as an ant-eater, 104.
Parrot, 13, 82.
Parroquet, Carolina, 5.
Pigeon, domestic, 27.
Pines, acorns stored in, 49.
"Ploughshare," anchylosed vertebrae of tail, 86.
Ravens, 74.
Reason in woodpeckers' hoarding, 62.
Red-head. _See_ Woodpecker, red-headed.
Robins, 39.
Sap, not used as an insect-lure, 41.
how its loss harms the tree, 44, 45.
Sapsucker, orange, 65. _See, also_, Woodpecker, red-bellied.
red-breasted, 122.
red-naped, 121.
Williamson's, 122.
yellow-bellied, 7, 15-17, 33-45, 59, 102, 103, 105, 106.
Skull of woodpecker figured, 101.
Sparrow, English _or_ house, 21, 62, 65.
Spears, 12, 13.
Spruce, acorns stored in, 47, 49, 53.
Squirrels, thievishness of, 23, 53.
Subspecies defined, 114.
Swallow, eaves _or_ cliff, 61, 64, 65.
Swallow, tree, 21.
Swift, chimney, 5, 20, 61, 87, 88.
Tail, shape, 89.
number of rectrices, 95.
experimental demonstration of shape _a priori_, 91.
reason for shape, 98.
Tail-feathers studied, 94-97.
Taste in the woodpeckers, 38, 39.
Telegraph poles resorted to by woodpeckers, 7, 18, 48.
Thumb, of birds, 80.
Tin roofs resorted to by woodpeckers, 17, 55.
Titmouse, crested, 21.
Toes, numbering of, 79, 80.
Tongue, appearance of, 99.
figured, 99.
bones of, 13, 100-103.
Trogons, yoke-toed, 82.
Vanessa butterfly, 16.
Vegetable food of woodpeckers, 3, 31.
Vireos, 30.
Warblers, 30.
Weevils, not the object in storing nuts, 52.
Woodpecker, Alaskan three-toed, 121.
alpine three-toed, 121.
American three-toed, 121.
ant-eating, 123.
arctic three-toed, 120.
Arizona, 120.
Batchelder's, 118.
black-breasted, 6. _See, also_, Williamson's sapsucker.
Cabanis's, 118.
Californian, 46-54, 56, 66.
downy, 6, 17, 21, 28-33, 59, 63, 70, 74, 83, 86, 88, 95, 107,
114, 118.
Gairdner's, 118.
Gila, 55, 125.
golden-fronted, 55, 102, 125.
hairy, 6, 9, 28, 32, 59, 63, 74, 83, 86, 88, 89, 95, 97-99, 107,
114, 117.
Harris's, 118.
ivory-billed, 70, 71, 73, 83, 88, 89, 93, 97, 98, 107, 117.
ladder-backed, 119.
Lewis's, 6, 13, 55, 59, 66, 103, 124.
narrow-fronted, 124.
Nelson's downy, 119.
northern hairy, 118.
northern pileated, 123.
Nuttall's, 119.
pileated, 6, 71, 73, 83, 88, 93, 95, 98, 99, 107, 123.
red-bellied, 6, 55, 65, 124.
red-cockaded, 119.
red-headed, 6, 7, 11, 55-58, 60-64, 105, 123.
Rocky Mountain, 118.
St. Lucas, 119.
southern downy, 118.
southern hairy, 118.
Texan, 119.
three-toed, foot figured, 80.
white-headed, 120.
Woodpeckers, advantages of, as subject for study, 2.
bill as a tool, 69-73.
carpenters or miners, 68.
character of, 7, 8.
coloration of, 5.
coloration of sexes, 6.
covered nostrils, 74, 75.
favorite haunts, 3, 7.
foot, structure and uses, 77.
habit of drumming, 17.
how to recognize the woodpeckers, 4.
inferences from study of bills, 75.
hunting borers, 10, 11.
nesting, 21, 22.
preferred foods, 3, 7.
tail, study of, 86-99.
winter quarters, 22.
wooing, 15.
Yoke-toed feet, 82.
Zebra bird. _See_ Woodpecker, red-bellied.
The Riverside Press
_Electrotyped and printed by H. O. Houghton & Co.
Cambridge, Mass, U. S. A._
* * * * *
Transcribers Notes
Pickaxe and pick-axe both used in the text
Various punctuation and other printing errors corrected
Inconsistent hyphenation of words regularised
Spelling of reecho (page 16) left intact
Male symbol shown as [M] Female symbol shown as [F]
End of Project Gutenberg's The Woodpeckers, by Fannie Hardy Eckstorm