on some of the North American Woodpeckers. 51


pointing its little bill upwards, as if begging not to have to do it

again, as it hurt so! But for some time the stern parent continued

the severe lesson, thrusting her own bill into the earth and picking

out grubs, and insisting on the “ papoose ” doing likewise. Of

course it had to learn to “ fend for itself,” for such is the discipline

and rule of the “ School of the Woods.”


Far away in Louisiana, and in the swampy forests of the

South, where “ Spanish moss ” clothes the trees with fantastic

draperies, and the warm Hood of the “ Gulf ” joins the flood of

great rivers, or the long line of the Atlantic coast stretches to meet

the tropical forest, the finest of all the Woodpeckers, the Ivory-billed

Woodpecker ( Campephilus principalis), has his home. He is a big,

handsomely-marked, black and white bird, some 20 in. long, the

male having a splendid red crest and the female a black one. His

voice is clear and penetrating —three loud notes, repeated at intervals

many times.


I was fortunate enough to see one of these grand fellows

as he flew from one tall tree to another, across a flooded glade in

the forest between Pensacola and New Orleans. He flew in one

great swoop, not dropping and rising in short curves as do most

Woodpeckers. The “ ivory ” bill of these birds is so strong that

with it they can hammer off a piece of thick bark seven to eight

inches long with a few blows. They build in living trees, not

decayed ones like most of the Woodpeckers, and they rear two

broods in the year, the first in early spring, the second in August.

I was told that the Indians use the bills and heads of these birds as

charms, and the scales from the upper part of the bill as ornaments.


The Imperial Woodpecker ( Campephilus imperialis) is the

largest of his kind, and is said to be found in Southern California,

but this is very doubtful. He is* a Central American bird. I only

mention him as I saw a very fine stuffed specimen, which must

have measured some twenty-four inches, in a window in San

Francisco, grouped with other genuine North American birds.


Another handsome, but smaller, member of the family is

the Red-Cockaded Woodpeckdr ( Picus borealis ), inhabiting the

swamps and “ barrens ” of the Gulf States, his black and white

plumage showing up well against the dark Swamp pines. He has



