324 



THE I'EATJIKKICI) TlUJiES. 



W'liicli dooms to death the haph'ss iiobh^ tree : 

 These arc his pre}-, aright \,y iiistiuct led. 



True to His laws the universe who made, 

 And who sustains thereby eaeh liviiii>- thing-, 

 A nest is formed to house the helpless young, 

 Where insect never crawled :— there hollowed out 

 In the best bough the nest eonnnodious stands ; 

 A comfortable home from danger free ; 

 And in theii' cradle safe rocked by the brec/.e. 

 And shaded from the noonday's scoi'ching heat 

 By blinds of hue delicious, dark green leaves. 

 In comfort there they rest the live-long day ; 

 And who would grudge them this their pri\ilege. 

 Attended by both parents, hajipy brood '.' 

 These pai'tners true the toils of watching share ; 

 Constant and fond through life thcj- never l)art. 

 But lessen labour and increase delight 

 By mutual obligation ; thus they Live : 

 A moral with their- history is blent, 

 AMiich speaks of justice, tenderness, and love, 

 A\'orthy the stud}- of proud reason's sons, 

 AVho in their practice oft these laws forget. 



Unlike the nntiu-alist of old, Buffon, 

 To whom unknown the value of these birds, 

 Would have all woodpeckers destroyed, we say, 

 ' Live on and multipl}-, pursue }-om- work 

 Of searching out the haunts of insects dire, 

 And save from death om- noble forest ti-ces :' 

 Millions of these, amid this mighty host, 

 By insect rapine prematurely die ; 

 And hence the wisdom of Omnific mind, 

 AVhieh works by rules immeasurably good. 

 In placing here tlus bird industrious. 

 With giant strength, it drives its ivory bill 

 Into tlie trunks of trees that else must die, 

 'I'luis makes its meal of the marauding ercw 

 Which would the vital sap ere long destroy ; — 

 And saves from ruin many u monarch tree. 



A\'ell may they value thee who know thy w orth : 

 And, whether perched on toi)most bough erect. 

 Sitting in state, or movuig through the air 

 In graceful undulations, still intent 

 Thy prey to seize — wherever thou art traced, 

 Majestic bird! thou shalt our song ins])irc."* 



Tlic broad extent of (liis bird's dark and glo.ssy plumage, witli Ihc well-defined snowy 

 markings of tlie neck and wings, relieved by the rieli tracery of the carmine crest, and 

 brilliant ycllnw eye, in some way so reminded the enthusia,stic Audubon of the noble 

 produclions of a gi-eat Fleinish painter, that wlienever lie saw one of these gorgeous birds 

 Hying from tree to tree, he would exclaim, " There goes a Vandyke !" The ivory-billed 

 woodpecker confines its rumbles to a comparatively small portion of tlie United States, 

 and is never observed in the middle portions of the Union, wlierc the nature of the wood 

 does not api)ear to suit ils ludjits. "Descending llu'Ohio," says ]\Ir. Au(hd)on, "we 

 meet with this splendid bird i\>v tlu- llrst time near tlir iMnilhieiice ol' (liat licauliful river 

 and the Mississipin ; after wliicli, tollowing tlie windings of the latter, either downwards 



• S. S. S. 



