HAIRY WOODPECKER. 575 



HAIRY WOODPECKER 



{Picus xillosus, L. Wilson, Am. Orn. i. p. 150. pi. 9. fig. 3. 

 [male]. Phil. Museum, No. 1988.) 



Sp. Charact. — Varied with black and white; beneath white; 

 the back clothed with long, slender, loose feathers ; outer tail- 

 feathers white, and spotless. — Male, with a red occipital band 

 which in the /e?naZe is black. 



This common species is a resident in most parts of 

 America from Hudson's Bay to Florida, being more 

 numerous than the last, and more familiar ; frequently 

 approaching the cottage or the skirts of the town. It 

 is likewise much attached to orchards, an active borer 

 of their trunks, and an eager hunter after insects and 

 larvae in all kinds of decayed wood, even to stumps and 

 the rails of the fences. In the month of May, like 

 the last, accompanied by his mate he seeks out the 

 seclusion of the woods, and taking possession of a hol- 

 low branch, or cutting out a cavity anew, he forms his 

 nest in a deep and secure cavern ; though sometimes a 

 mere stake of the fence answers the purpose. The eggs, 

 about 5, white as usual, are hatched in June. Their 

 call consists in a shrill and rattling whistle, heard to a 

 considerable distance. They also give out a single 

 querulous note of recognition while perambulating the 

 trunks for food. 



The length of this species is about 9 inches, the alar extent 15. 

 The crown black Wings black, tipt and spotted with white. The 

 2 exterior feathers of the tail white, terminating in an umber tint. 

 Legs and feet greyish-blue. Bill bluish-horn color, straight, about 

 1^ inches long. 



