THK IVORY-lilLLKD WOOTJVKCKER. '■i2i) 



towards tlie sea, or upwards in tlio direction of tlio [Missouri, wo frequently observe it. 

 On the Atlantic coast, Xorth farolina may bo taken as tlie limits of its distribution 

 although now and tlicn an individual of the species may be seen in Maryland. To the 

 westward of the ^lississipjji, it is found in all the dense forests bordering the streams 

 which emjjty tlioir waters into that majestic river from the decli\-ities of the Rocky 

 Mountains. The lower parts of the Carolinas, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, and 

 Mississipjji arc, however, the most favourite resorts of this bird, and in these states it 

 constantly resides, breeds, and passes a life of peaceful enjoyment, tiuding a profusion of 

 food in all the deep, dark, and gloomy swamps dispersed throughout them. 



" I wish, kind reader, it were in my power to present to your mind's eye the favourite 

 resort of the ivory-billed woodpecker. AVould that I could describe the extent of those 

 deep morasses, overshadowed by millions of dark, gigantic cypresses, spreading their 

 sturdy, moss-covered branches as if to admonish man to pause and reflect on the many 

 ditliculties which he must encounter should he persist in venturing farther into tlieir 

 almost inaccessible recesses, extending for miles before him, where he would be inter- 

 rupted by huge projecting branches, here and there the mossy trunk of a fallen and 

 decaying tree, and thousands of creeping and twining plants of numberless species ! 

 Would that I could represent to you the dangerous nature of the ground, its oozing, 

 spongy, and miry disposition, although covered with a beautiful but treacherous 

 carpeting, comjjosed of the richest mosses, flags, and water-lilies, no sooner receiving the 

 pressure of the foot than it yields, and endangers the very life of the adventurer ; whilst 

 here and there, as he approaches art opening, that proves merely a lake of black, muddy 

 water, his ear is assailed by the dismal croalcing of innumerable frogs, the hissing of 

 ■ serpents, or the bellowing of alligators ! Would that I could give you an idea of the 

 sultrv, pestiferous atmosphere that nearly suffocates the intruder during the meridian 

 heat of our dog-days in those gloomy and liorrible swamps ! But the attempt to picture 

 these scenes would be vain : nothing short of ocular demonstration can impress any 

 adequate idea of them. 



" The flight of this bird is graceful in the extreme, although seldom prolonged to 

 more than a few hundred yards at a time, unless when "it has to cross a large river, which 

 it does in deep imdulatious, opening its wings at first to their full extent, and nearly 

 closing them to renew the propelling impulse. The transit from one tree to another, 

 even should the distance be as much as a hundred yards, is performed by a single sweep, 

 and the bird appears as if merely swinging itself from the top of the one tree to that of 

 the other, forming an elegantly-curved line. At this moment all the beauty of the 

 plumage is exhibited, and strikes the beholder with jileasure. It never utters any sound 

 whilst on the wing, unless during the love season ; but at all other times, no sooner has 

 this bird alighted, than its remarkable voice is heard, at almost every leap which it 

 makes, whilst ascending against the upper parts of the trunk of a tree, or its highest 

 branches. Its notes are clear, loud, and yet rather plaintive. They are heard at a 

 considerable distance, perhaps a mile, and resemble the false high note of a clarionet. 

 They are usually repeated three times in succession, and may be represented by the 

 monosyllable pait, paif, paif. These are heard so frequently as to induce me to say that 

 the birds spend few minutes of the day without uttering them ; and this circumstance 

 leads to its destruction, which is aimed at, not because (as is supposed by some) this 

 species is a destroyer of trees, but more because it is a beautiful bird, and its rich scalp, 

 attached to the upper mandible, for an ornament for the war-dress of most of our 

 Indians, or fur the short pouch of our squatters and hunters, by all of whom the bird 

 is shot merely for that inirpose. Travellers of all nations are also fond of possessing 

 the upper part of the head and the bill of the male ; and I have frequently remarked, 

 that on a steam-boat's reaching what we call a intoiliiui-placi', the strangers were very 



