A History of North American Birds, Land Birds. Volume 2

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 of it, 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.

Section CENTUREÆ

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.

Genus CENTURUS, 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 of Centurus may 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. Female without 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. Female without 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.

PLATE LII.

1. Centurus carolinus. ♂ Pa., 868.

2. Centurus uropygialis. ♂ Ariz., 6128.

3. Centurus aurifrons. ♂ Texas, 6121.

4. Centurus carolinus. ♀ 6118.

5. Centurus uropygialis. ♀ Ariz.

6. Centurus aurifrons. ♀ Texas.

Centurus carolinus, BonapRED-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. Birds Amer. 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 the inner 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.

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.

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 as one 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 the Fauna 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, GrayYELLOW-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 the C. carolinus. At Eagle Pass, however, it was the more abundant of the two. He found it breeding 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, BairdGILA 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, b pl. 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 (not Picus (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 Cape St. 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 convenient place 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 the Melanerpes 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 of Suwarrow, or Saguaro, 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 the Phainopepla 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.

Genus MELANERPES, Swainson

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

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