ind. The plumage of this species is entirely black
above, and whitish below, with the flanks barred with blackish. The male
has a yellow patch on the crown. They breed abundantly in coniferous
forests in mountainous regions throughout their range, laying their eggs
in cavities in decayed stumps and trees, apparently at any height, from
five feet up. The eggs are laid in May or June. Size .95 x .70.

Range.--Northern parts of the United States, north to the Arctic
regions.

401. THREE-TOED WOODPECKER. _Picoides americanus americanus._

Range.--From northern United States northward.

The chief difference between this species and the last is in the white
on the back, either as a patch or in the form of broken bars. The
nesting habits are just the same and the eggs cannot be distinguished
from those of the preceding. Both forms are found breeding in the same
localities in the Adirondacks and in nearly all other portions of their
range.

[Illustration 255: White.]
[Illustration: Three-toed Woodpecker. Arctic Three-toed Woodpecker.]
[Illustration: White.]
[Illustration: deco.]
[Illustration: right hand margin.]

Page 254

401a. ALASKA THREE-TOED WOODPECKER. _Picoides americanus fasciatus._

Range.--Alaska, south to British Columbia and Washington.

Like the last, but with more white on the back. Eggs like the arcticus.

401b. ALPINE THREE-TOED WOODPECKER. _Picoides americanus dorsalis._

Range.--Rocky Mountains from British Columbia south to New Mexico.

Slightly larger than the preceding and with more white on the back,
almost entirely losing the barred effect of the American Three-toed
variety. They nest chiefly in dead pines, laying four or five white eggs
that cannot be distinguished from those of many other species. Size .95
x .70.

402. YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER. _Sphyrapicus varius varius._

Range.--North America, east of the Plains; breeding from Massachusetts
northward, and wintering from the Carolinas and Illinois southward.

This species is one of the most handsomely marked of the family; they
can easily be recognized by the red crown and throat (white on the
female), each bordered by black, and the yellowish underparts. The
members of this genus have been found to be the only ones that are
really injurious, and these only to a slight extent, to cultivated
trees. This species and the two following are the only real
"sapsuckers," a crime that is often attributed to the most useful of the
f