l82 The Canadian Woodpeckers, 



" Though this species, generally spettking, is migratory, yet they often 

 remain with us in Pennsylvania during the whole winter. They also inhabit 

 the continent of North America, from Hudson's Bay to Georgia ; and have 

 been found by voyagers on the north-west coast of America. They arrive 

 at Hudson's Bay in April, and leave it in September. Mr. Hearne, however, 

 informs us, that " the Gold-winged Woodpecker is almost the only species 

 of AVoodpecker that winters near Hudson's Bay." The natives there call it 

 Ou-thee-qiian-nor-ow, from the golden color of the shafts and lower side of 

 the wings. It has numerous principal appellations in the different states of 

 the Union, such as " High-hole," from the situation of its nest, and 

 '' Hittock," " Tucker," " Pint," " Flicker," by which last it is usually 

 known in Pennsylvania. These names have probably originated from a 

 fancied resemblance of its notes to the sound of the words ; for one of its 

 most common cries consists of two notes, or syllables, frequently repeated, 

 which, by the help of the hearer's imagination, may easily be made to 

 resemble any or all of them." 



Picus piLEATUS, (Linn.) 



Specific Characters. — General colour, dusky black; head with a crest 

 of bright red ; a portion of the wing white, but not visible 

 except when flying; length, 18, breadth, 28. Inhabits North 

 America to the Arctic regions. The specific name is from 

 the Latin, {Pileotus,) wearing a cap or bonnet, in allusion 

 probably to the scarlet crest or cap of the species. 



This is the largest species of Woodpecker to be seen in Canada, and is 

 not very common. In February, 1852, we saw a flock of seven or eight of 

 them in the unsurveyed lands lying between the Ottawa and Georgian Bay, 

 and have shot several on the Bonnechere Eiver, in the county of Renfrew. 

 We have also seen them among the pines on the rocky hills in the Town.ship 

 of Hull, near the City of Ottawa. The following is Wilson's description : — 



" This American species is the second in size among his tribe, and may 

 be styled the great northern chief of the A\''oodpeckers, though, in fact, his. 

 range extends over the whole of the United States, from the interior of 

 Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. He is very numerous in the Genesee country, 

 and in all the tracts of high-timbered forests, particularly in the neighborhood 

 of our large rivers, where he is noted for making a loud and almost incessant 

 cackling before wet weather, flying at such times in a restless, uneasy manner 

 from tree to tree, making the woods echo to his outcry. In Pennsylvania 

 and the Northern States, he is called the Black Woodcock ; in the Southern 

 States, the Logcock. Almost every old trunk in the forest where he resides 

 bears the marks of his chisel. Wherever he perceives a tree beginning to 

 decay, he examines it round and round with great skill and dexterity, strips 

 off the bark in sheets of five or six feet in length, to get at the hidden cause 

 of the disease, and labors with a gayety and activity really surprising. I 

 have seen him separate the greatest part of the bark from a large, dead pine 



