January 



ously mingled, while the male has the distin- 

 guishing badge of a bright crimson patch on 

 the hind-head. This species is very common 

 throughout eastern North America in woods 

 and orchards, and seems to be more desirous of 

 proximity to man than the other species of the 

 same family. 



Matrimonial arrangements are commonly 

 made annually among the birds, but the " down- 

 ies ' ' are usually mated for life, and hence are 

 often seen in pairs instead of singly. Neither 

 are they so migratory as many others, and often 

 remain in one locality throughout the year. 



The woodpeckers are not singers, but every 

 species has its note, more or less shrill, and 

 some of them have quite a variety of such notes. 

 These sounds probably serve as means of com- 

 munication among themselves, and perhaps re- 

 lieve their overcharged feelings, as in the case 

 of the pi leated woodpecker, or log-cock, which, 

 Minot says, " often produces a loud cackling, 

 not wholly unlike that of a hen. Hence a 

 countryman, asked by a sportsman if there were 

 any of them in a certain place, answered that 

 he ' often heard them hollering in the woods.' " 



The other woodpecker in the Park is the 

 ' ' flicker, ' ' alias * ' golden- winged woodpecker, ' ' 



35 



