THE NORTHERX PILEATED ^^'OODPECKER. 439 



whites arc cvt-nwiiere tingfil with pak- sulphiir-xcUnw . the- color being especially 

 noticeable in the axillaries and lining of wings. Adult fciualc: Similar, but black- 

 en forehead, and black instead of red malar stripes. Length 15.50-19.00 (393./- 

 482.6); wing 8.50-10.00 I 215.9-254) : tail 5.85-7.40 1 148.6-188) ; head 4.50-5.50 

 ( 1 14.3-139.7): bill i.75-2.r.5 (44.5-67.3). 



Recognition Marks. — Largest size: black, white and red i>n head in stripes; 

 body maiiilv l)lack. 



Nesting. — Xcst: high in dead trees. Eggs: 4-(i. white. Av. size, 1.29 x .94 

 (32.8 .X 23.9). Season: May; one brood. 



General Range. — Formerly the heavily wooded regions of North America 

 south i.if about latitude 63°. except in the southern Rocky Mountains. Now rare 

 or extirpated in the more settled parts of the Eastern States. 



Range in Washington. — Xot uncommon resident in larger coniferous for- 

 ests thruout the State. 



Authorities. — [Lewis and Clark, Hist. Ex. (1814) Ed. Biddle : Coues, \'ol. 

 H. p. 185. 1 Hxlatomus pilcatiis Baird, Baird, Rep. Pac. R. R. Surv. IX. 1858, 

 p. 107. T. C&S. L-'. Rh. D-. Ra. Kk. B. E. 



Specimens.— IT. of W. V. I'rov. 1^ liN. 



OX'E'S first ac(iiiaintance with this huge black fowl marks a red-letter 

 day in woodcraft, and it is permitted the serious student to examine the bird 

 anatomically just once in a life-time. The scarlet crest attracts first attention, 

 not onl}- Ijecause of its brilliancy, but Ijecause its presence counterbalances the 

 bill, and imparts to the head its hammer-like aspect. This crest was much 

 sought after b}- the Indians of our coast, and figured i)romiuently as a personal 

 decoration in their medicine dances, as did the bird itself in their medicine lore. 

 A measurement of twenty-eight inches from wing-tip to wing-tip marks the size 

 of this "Black Woodcock," while the stiffened tail-feathers with their down- 

 turned vanes show what adecjuate suppc>rt is gi\en tlie clinging claws when the 

 bird delivers one of its powerful strokes. The bill is the marvel. Made ap- 

 parently of horn, like other birds' bills, it has some of the attributes of tem- 

 jjered steel. The bird uses it recklesslv as both axe and crowbar, for it hews 

 its wav thru the bark of our largest dead fir trees, in its el¥orts to get at the 

 grubs, which ha\"e their greatest field of activity between the bark and the 

 wood. It pries ofi great chi])s and Hakes hv a sidewise wrench of its head. 

 A carpenter is known by his chips, but no carpenter would put his chisels to 

 such hard service as the bird does his. As a result there is no mistaking 

 the bark pile which surrounds the Ijase of certain old stubs in the forest for 

 the work of an\- other agency. 



Possibly the most interesting of all is the Log-cock's tongue, which it is 

 able to pi-otrude suddenlv to a distance of four or fi\e inches beyond the tip 

 of its beak. This provision enables the bird to economize lal)or in the track- 

 ing of buried sweets, and the arrangement is made possible by the great 



