hammering is at all times a guide to those who wish to follow them in the woods. A nest was taken in the county of Middlesex, in May, 1885, by Mr. Robt. Elliot.

Dr. Macallum reports that they still breed in suitable places along the north shore of Lake Erie, near Dunnville. Their distribution seems to be more influenced by the size of the timber than by the temperature, as they are common in Manitoba and abundant in British Columbia, but are not named among the "Birds of Alaska." Though now rare, or absent, in the thickly settled parts of the Eastern States, they are still common in the timbered swamps and secluded woods in the south. The nest is usually made in a retired part of the woods, and at so great a height from the ground that it is seldom reached by the oölogist. This fact will help to prevent the species being reduced in numbers.

GENUS MELANERPES SWAINSON.

SUBGENUS MELANERPES.

MELANERPES ERYTHROCEPHALUS (LINN.).

177. Red-headed Woodpecker. (406)

Glossy blue-black; rump, secondaries and under parts from the breast, pure white; primaries and tail feathers, black; whole head, neck and breast crimson in both sexes, grayish-brown in the young. About 9; wing, 54; tail, 33.

HAB.-United States, west to the Rocky Mountains, straggling westward to Salt Lake Valley; rare or local east of the Hudson River.

Nest, in a hole in a tree, varying greatly in height.
Eggs, four to six, white.

In Ontario the Red-headed Woodpecker is a summer resident only, arriving early in May and leaving again in September. It is quite common and perhaps the best known of any of the woodpeckers, both on account of its decided markings and from its habit of visiting the orchard during the season of ripe fruit. It is also an expert fly-catcher, frequently taking its position on the top of a dead pine, from which it darts out after the passing insect in true fly-catcher style. Though a very showy bird when seen in the woods, it does not look so well in collections, the red of the head evidently fading after death.

It is generally distributed throughout Ontario, but becomes rare

RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER.

251 in Manitoba, north of which I have not heard of its having been observed.

Besides the ordinary food of woodpeckers, it shows a taste for grasshoppers and beetles, in search of which it may often be observed on the ground. It is also very fond of ripe fruit, and incurs the serious displeasure of the gardeners by mutilating or carrying off the finest of the apples, pears, cherries and other fruits.

They are rather noisy and quarrelsome birds, but this trait may be partly assumed.

They all leave Ontario in October, and during the winter none are observed.

SUBGENUS CENTURUS SWAINSON.

MELANERPES CAROLINUS (LINN.).

178. Red-bellied Woodpecker. (409)

Back and wings, except larger quills, closely banded with black and white; primaries with large white blotches near the base, and usually a few smaller spots; whole crown and nape, scarlet in the male, partly so in the female ; sides of head and under parts, grayish-white, usually with a yellow shade, reddening on belly; flanks and crissum, with sagittate-black marks; tail, black, one or two outer feathers white, barred; inner web of central feathers white with black spots; outer web of same black, with a white space next the shaft for most of its length; white predominating on the rump. Length, 9-10; wing, about 5; tail, about 34.

HAB.-Eastern United States, to the Rocky Mountains; rare or accidental east of the Hudson River.

Nest, a hole in a tree.
Eggs, four to six, white.

This handsome woodpecker is gradually becoming more common in Southern Ontario, and like some others, such as the Lark-finch, Orchard Oriole and Rough-winged Swallow, it evidently makes its entrance to the Province round the west end of Lake Erie.

It seems to find its northern limit in Southern Ontario, and even there confines itself chiefly to the south-west portion. Stragglers have been found near Toronto and Hamilton, while near London it breeds and is tolerably common, but Mr. White has not yet found it in Ottawa, and it is not included among the "Birds of Manitoba.”

In the "Birds of Ohio," Dr. Wheaton mentions it as a common summer resident, but it is not named among the "Birds of Minne

sota," and in the "Birds of New England" it is spoken of as the rarest of all the woodpeckers. Its centre of abundance is evidently farther south, where it is resident.

West of the Rocky Mountains it has not been observed. It is of shy, retiring habits, frequenting the gloomy depths of the forest, though its dress fits it for appearing in the best society. The feathers are of a peculiar soft and silky texture, and are so regularly barred across with black and white that it is known to many as the Zebra Bird, and is considered the handsomest of all the woodpeckers.

In Ontario it is migratory, leaving about the end of October.

Back, wing coverts and innermost quills, olivaceous-brown, thickly barred with black; rump, snowy-white; quills and tail, golden yellow underneath, and shafts of this color. A scarlet nuchal crescent and large black pectoral crescent in both sexes. Male-With black maxillary patches, wanting in the female; head and nape, ash; chin, throat and breast, lilac-brown; under parts, with numerous round black spots; sides, tinged with creamy-brown; belly, with yellowish. About 10 inches long; wing, about 6; tail, 44.

HAB.-Northern and Eastern North America, west to the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains and Alaska. Occasional on the Pacific slope, from California northward. Accidental in Europe.

66

Nest, a hole in a tree.

Eggs, five to seven, white.

Early in April, if the weather is mild, the loud cackling call of the 'Higholder" may be heard from his perch at the top of a tall dead limb, where he watches to welcome his comrades as they hourly arrive from the south. For a week or two at this season they are very abundant, but many soon pass on farther north, and the others are distributed over the country, so that they are less frequently seen. In habits this species differs considerably from all the other members of the family. It is more terrestrial, being often observed on the ground demolishing ant hills and devouring the inmates, for which achievement its curved bill and long slimy tongue are admirably adapted. It is also fond of fruit, and of corn, either green or ripe.

It is by no means confined to the forest, but is often seen peeping from its hole in a stub by the roadside. When alighting upon a tree, it perches on a bough in the ordinary manner, being seldom seen clinging to the trunk like other members of the family, except when entering its nest. In Southern Ontario it is seen till late in October, but only on one or two occasions have stragglers been observed during the winter.

This is at once the most abundant and widely distributed woodpecker in Canada. Crossing our southern border, it works its way up north, leaving representatives in Manitoba, the North-West and other territories through which it passes, till it finally reaches the shores of the Arctic Sea. In Alaska, Mr. Nelson says of it: "This handsome woodpecker breeds from one side of the Territory to the other, wherever wooded country occurs. It has been sent to the National Museum from the lower Anderson River, and is well known to breed along the entire course of the Yukon, reaching to the mouth of that river.

"It is a regular summer resident at the head of Norton Bay, and reaches the Arctic on the shore of Kotzebue Sound."

It is also reported as an accidental visitor in Greenland. Albinos of this species are of frequent occurrence. Once when driving north in the township of Beverley, a cream-colored specimen kept ahead of me for half a mile. How beautiful he looked in the rich autumnal sunlight, as with long swoops he passed from tree to tree by the roadside! I could not but admire him, and that was all I could do, for I was unarmed.

General color of the upper parts, dark brownish-gray, streaked and minutely sprinkled with brownish-black; quills and coverts, dark brown, spotted in bars with light brownish-red; four middle tail feathers like those of the back, the three lateral white in their terminal half; throat and breast, similar to the back with a transverse band of white on the foreneck; rest of the lower parts, paler than above and mottled. Female: Similar, but with the lateral tail feathers reddish-white toward the tip only, and the band across the forehead pale yellowish-brown. Length, 9; wing, 54; tail, 4.

HAB.-Eastern United States to the Plains, south to Guatemala.

Eggs, two, deposited in a hollow or a rotten log, or on the ground on a dry bank among leaves. They are elliptical, of moderate polish with a ground color of white or cream, handsomely marked with spots of yellowish-brown; deep shell marks are about as numerous as the surface marks and are of a lilac-gray or lavender tint.

This well-known bird crosses the southern frontier of Ontario about the 10th of May, and should the weather be mild its loud and well-known cry is soon heard at night at many different points throughout the country. It is seldom seen abroad by day, except when disturbed at its resting place in some shady part of the woods, when it glides off noiselessly like a great moth. Disliking the glare of the light, it avoids the city, but not unfrequently perches on the roof of a farm-house, startling the inmates with its cry, which they hear with great distinctness.

This is the only song of the Whip-poor-will, and it is kept up during the breeding season, after which it is seldom heard.

We see

so little of these birds that it is difficult to tell exactly at what time they leave us, but it is most likely early in September that they "fold their tents like the Arabs, and as silently steal away."

It is reported as a common summer resident in Manitoba, and Dr. Bell records its presence at Norway House, to the north of which I have not heard of it having been observed.

It is a delicately formed bird, though strong on the wing. Its legs and feet are very slender, but they are not often called into use,