WOODPECKERS. 53 
pecker (Picus principalis) the prince of the carpenter 
birds. This powerful instrument is as white, and 
much tougher, if not harder, than ivory, and elegant- 
ly fluted. With this he can dig into the hardest 
trees, either for food or for nestling. In the low 
countries of the Carolinas, this bird usually prefers 
the large timbered cypress swamps for breeding in; 
and in the trunk of one of these trees, at a consid- 
erable height, the male and female alternately, and 
in conjunction, dig out a large and capacious cavity 
for their eggs and young. ‘Tees thus dug out have 
frequently been cut down, with sometimes the eggs 
and young in them. the hole being said to be gen- 
erally a little winding, the better to keep out the 
weather, and from two to five feet deep. The la- 
bour of digging out a hole of such dimensions may 
be considered almost beyond the execution of these 
birds; but when we read of some of their other 
feats in carpentry, the fact does not appear in the 
least surprising. Wilson gives the following inter- 
esting history of one which he captured. 
“The first place,” says he, “I observed this bird 
at, when on my way to the South, was about twelve 
miles north of Wilmington, in North Carolina. 
There | found the bird from which the drawing of 
the figure was taken. This bird was only wounded 
slightly in the wing, and, on being caught, uttered a 
loudly reiterated and most piteous note, exactly re- 
sembling the violent crying of a young child, which 
terrified my horse so as nearly to have cost me my 
life. It was distressing to hear it. 1 carried it with 
me in the chair, under cover, to Wilmington. In 
passing through the streets, its affecting cries sur- 
prised every one within hearing, particularly the 
females, who hurried to the doors and windows with 
looks of alarm and anxiety. J drove on, and on ar- 
riving at the piazza of the hotel where I intended 
to put up, the landlord came forward, and a number 
of other persons who happened to be there, all 
equally alarmed at what they heard; this was great- 
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