Red-bellied Woodpecker Melanerpes carolinus

The Red-bellied Woodpecker, an Almanac

• They do say the Red-bellied Woodpecker sees more than it lets on.
• Those up the holler will tell you that it will not cross a fresh-turned furrow for love nor money.
• Upon dissection, Dr. Grebe determined that its evident melancholy is owing to an excess of nervous exhalation.
• The old-timers hereabouts maintain that where the Red-bellied Woodpecker nests, the dog sleeps poorly.
• The Red-bellied Woodpecker they knew of old as the gallows-thane, and the name stuck in the marrow.

Folklore, invented on the spot — not to be believed.