ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAKS, SIX DAYS OLD.
The Hairy Woodpecker
(Dryobates villosus) Woodpecker family
(Illustration facing p. [45])
Length—9 to 10 inches. About the size of the robin.
Male—Black and white above, white beneath. White stripe down the back, composed of long hair-like feathers. Bright-red band on the nape of neck. Wings striped and dashed with black and white. Outer tail feathers white, without bars. White stripe about eyes and on sides of the head.
Female—Without the red band on head, and body more brownish than that of the male.
Range—Eastern parts of United States, from the Canadian border to the Carolinas.
Migrations—Resident throughout its range.
The bill of the woodpecker is a hammering tool, well fitted for its work. Its mission in life is to rid the trees of insects, which hide beneath the bark, and with this end in view, the bird is seen clinging to the trunks and branches of trees through fair and wintry weather, industriously scanning every inch for the well-known signs of the boring worm or destructive fly.