WOODPECKERS 



139 



tho:-e species of which vvc are accustoined to 

 speak as being " nearly extinct." Probably it 

 has entirely disappeared from our southern At- 

 lantic coast, as well as from the Mississi]ipi 

 River country, with the exception of some of 

 the Louisiana swamps. A few still persist in 

 the almost limitless swamps of Florida, but so 

 far as the vision of the average man is con- 

 cerned, the bird has already gone to join the 

 Dodo and the Great .^uk. 



Alexander Wilson, writing in the early pari of 

 the last century when the Ivory-billed was still 

 found as far north as North Carolina, speaks of 

 a " vulger prejudice " existing in the minds of 

 the people against it. Yet there appears to be 

 little evidence that gunners ever paid any special 

 attention to the bird. Its almost total disappear- 

 ance, therefore, is not easily explained. 



The nesting holes of this species are dug from 

 dead or living trees located far in the most inac- 

 cessible regions of the deep cypress swamps. 

 There, too, are the haunts where the bird seeks 

 its food. They are very noisy, and in the nesting 

 season as they chase each other about, or later 

 when the young have left the nest, their loud 

 cries may be heard jiiercing the swam])y gloom 

 for hundreds of yards. 



Wilson, writing of one he wounded and con- 

 fined in his room in a hotel in Wilmington, 

 North Carolina, says: " In less than an hour I 

 returned, and, on opening the door he set up a 

 distressing shout, which appeared to proceed 

 from grief that he had been discovered in his 

 attempts to escape. He had mounted along the 

 side of the window, nearly as high as the ceiling, 

 a little below which he began to break through. 

 The bed was covered with large pieces of plaster, 

 the latli was exposed for at least fifteen inches 

 square, and a hole large enough to admit the 

 fist, opened to the weather-boards; so that, in 

 less than another hour he would certainly have 

 succeeded in making his way through." 



The analysis of the food of the Ivory-billed 

 Woodpecker indicates that this species, were it 

 not for its small numbers, might be of consider- 

 able economic value. The insects which form 

 the animal portion of its food are mostly of an 

 injurious character. These powerful birds are 

 able to reach the wood-boring grubs in places 

 where smaller species fail and their large bodies 

 require a great quantity of such food. The 

 vegetable portion of their food shows no indica- 

 tion that this Woodpecker is likely to take any 



product:; of agriculture. Its shy, retiring habits 

 strengthen this inference. 



In his Food of the Woodpeckers of the United 

 States, F. li. I.. Real says of the Jvory-bill: 

 " When we see how much good this Woodpecker 

 is capable of doing as a guardian of the forest, 

 it seems deploral)lc that it should be allowed to 

 be exterminated. Wise legislation, backed by 



Drawintj by R. I. Brasher 



IVORY-BILLED WOODPECKER (1 nat. size) 



The boss carpenter of the bird world — the biggest, handsomest, and 

 rarest of American Woodpeckers 



intelligent public ojjinion, may retard, if not 

 absolutely prevent, the present destruction and 

 allow the bird to regain something of its former 

 abundance. There is room for this splendid 

 species and much need for its services in the 

 great southern forests." 



T. Gilbert Pe.\rson. 



