CTS PIC us BORKALlSi. 



PIOUS BOREALIS. 

 Cockaded Woodpockor. 

 Piais /mnn/is Vikim,., O-s. Am. S:'])t., II; 1R07, (56. 



DRSCllIPTIOX. 



Sp. Cn. Form, not robust. Size, small. Sternum, nut very stout. Toni^ue, rather thin and horny at the tt]i wliiofp 

 is provided w ith barbs for one th rd of the terminal lent;th. The extensible slicatli occupies about one half of the length of 

 the tongue. Terminal hook of scapula, angled above and below. 



Coi.oK. Adult male. Glossy black above, including sides (d' head, the line extending down on to the sides, and spots 

 on sides and Hanks, witli the bristly feathers at base of bill, line extending fnjni just in frontof eye, inclosing it, broadening 

 out over ear coverts and reaching occiput, transverse bars on back and wings, all but Ijasal portion of two outer tail feath- 

 ers, and tips of next pair, white; but the white of the tail is more or less barred with black. Concealed patches on the 

 sides of occijiut, scarlet. Under portion, including under tail and wing eoTerts, white, with the second row of the latter 

 spotted with black. 



Adult female. Similar to the male, but lacks the scarlet on the liead which is replaced by black, and the white on the 

 tail is not as extended. 



OBSERVATIONS. 



There is more black .spotting below in some specimens than in others but they are generally quite unifcmu in color. 

 Readily known from otlier Woodpeckers by the absence of anj' conspicuous red on the head, combined with the transverse 

 bandings above. Distributed, as a constant resident, throughout the Southern Atlantic States, as far north a,s Pennsylva- 

 nia, but are not Common above the Carolinas. 



DIMENSIONS. 



Average measurements of fifty specimens from Florida. Length, 8''25; stretch, M'.'iT; wing, 4-20; tail, '3'3r>; bill, -82; 

 tai'sus, -80. Longest specimen, S'T.'i; greatest extent of wing, 15-00; longest wing, 'i-OO: tail, ST.'), bill, llO; tarsus, -'JO- 

 Shortest specimen, 7-75; smallest extent of wing, 13-75; shortest wing, 3-40; tail, a-i)0; bill, -75; tarsus, '70. 



DESCRIl'TION OF NESTS AND EGGS. 



iV(.s/s, (ilaccd in cylindcr-shajied holes, generally excavated in living trees. Dimensions, diameter of external orifice, 

 ]-75, greatest internal, 3-00. Internal depth, 10-00. 



AV///S, four or five in numlier, elliptical in form, ))urc, polished pearly-white in Cdlor. Dimensions from -flSx'^Oto 

 -fi5 X -75. 



HABITS. 

 Wilsan called the Cockaded Woodpeckers, Picus (jneruhis, and this seems, at first 

 glance, to bo a most appropriate name, for, of all the fiimily, these are not only the most 

 noisy, bnt their notes are given in ii decidedly fretful tone as if the birds were constantly 

 in an irritable state of mind. It must have been upon the impulse of the moment, how- 

 ever, that the Pioneer Ornithologist gave them the name of Querulus Woodpeckers, for a 

 close study of their habits gives a very different impression of them. They are, in fact, 

 a most jovial class of birds, being almost constantly engaged in sporting about the tops of 

 the tall pines or chasing one another from tree to tree, uttering their peevish sounding 

 notes very fre((uently wlien in the best humor. The noise is more noticeable because they 

 congregate iu flocks, and it is quite rare to find even a pair without other companions. They 

 are also fond of the company of other members of the family and will even associate with 

 the Jays, Blue Birds, or Warblers. This gregarious instinct does not forsake tliem during 

 tlie breeiling season, for tlicy build in detached communities. The nests are almost always 

 placed in living pines, often thirty or forty feet from the ground; thus, as the trunl;s 

 of these trees are covered with a smooth bark, it is quite difRcult to climb them and, when 



