74, BLACK WOODPECKER. 
feathers of the head are erected, and have a beautiful appear- 
ance fanning in the sun. The beating and vibration of the 
dead branches, caused by the ‘sturdy stroke’ of the potent 
bill of the Black Woodpecker, is said to be heard at the 
distance of half a mile. 
These birds commence building in the beginning of April, 
and the nest is placed in the hole of a tree, most frequently 
the fir, at a height, generally, of about fifty or sixty feet 
from the ground, or occasionally, in a hollow of a wall. 
The entrance to it is narrow, being only of sufficient 
diameter to admit a man’s hand; but beyond this, it wi- 
dens in a downward direction, to the width of about nine 
inches. The chips and splinters made by the bird in excava- 
ting its nursery, frequently betray the locality to the curious, 
some of them being of considerable size, even several inches 
long; so great is the power of the bill, acting almost like a 
bill-hook. 
The eggs, from three, it is said, to five or six in number, 
are white, smooth, and shining. The male is reported to 
take his turn on the nest, and this labour of both lasts for 
seventeen or eighteen days. The young are fed with ants’ 
eggs, and are so carefully guarded by their parents, that 
they will hardly quit the nest if it be approached. 
Male; weight, twenty to twenty-three ounces; length, one 
foot four inches, to as much as one foot seven or eight, ac- 
cording to different accounts; bill, black at the tip, the 
base almost white, the remainder bluish horn-colour, ending 
in yellowish: the upper part is longer than the lower. Iris, 
pale yellow; a small tuft of bristly feathers extends forwards 
from the base of the bill; crown, deep rich red, the feathers 
black at the base. The whole of the rest of the plumage 
is black, the under part more dull than the upper. 
The wings, which extend to half the length of the tail, 
have the first feather narrow, pointed, and only two inches 
in length; the second about five inches long, also narrow and 
pointed, and of equal length with the ninth; the third 
shorter than the fourth, fifth, or sixth, which are of about 
equal length, and the longest in the wing, the fifth the 
most so; the tips of the wings are rusty black. The two 
middle feathers of the tail are the longest, the outside ones 
the shortest, the former being seven inches, and the latter 
only two and a half long, all much narrowed at the tips, 
hollowed beneath, and the webs at the tips resembling bristles; 
