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of the outer web white ; lower parts dull grayish-white. Length 

 eight inches and three quarters, wing four and three quarters. 



The formation of this class of birds is admirably adapted to their 

 habits ; furnished with hard and strong bills, they have always at 

 hand a suitable instrument for removing the bark of trees, under 

 which lurk their prey — which, as soon as discovered, they quickly 

 extract by darting into the sap their lono-, sharp, and barbed tongues. 



The Woodpeckers are excellent climbers ; and for that purpose, 

 their short, strong legs, and hooked claws, are well calculated, and 

 assisted by their rigid tail feathers, are enabled to remain firmly at- 

 tached to the tree when engaged in dislodging the concealed trea- 

 sure. They are usually observed moving about the trunks of trees, 

 or creeping along the branches, sounding the bark as they pass over 

 it, in search of decayed parts ; and when thus employed, or when 

 stripping off the bark by repeated strokes of their powerful bills, 

 their loud knocking is heard a quarter of a mile or more in the 

 woods. 



The eggs of all the Woodpeckers are pure white, smooth, and 

 shining, and are deposited in the hollow of a tree. When a conve- 

 nient situation does not offer, they form similar nests by excavating 

 to the depth of several inches — which labor is performed with their 

 bills, and usually applied to the decayed parts of trees. 



The flight of the Woodpeckers is uneven ; after making a few 

 movements with their wings, they draw them close to their bodies, 

 and without any apparent effort, pass through the air with consid- 

 erable velocity, gradually lowering until the impetus is about ex- 

 hausted — when they again use their wings, ascend, and continue 

 onwards as before, performing their flight in a jerking or undu- 

 lating manner. 



With us, the Hairy Woodpecker is a constant resident ; it is dis- 

 tributed through the woods and orchards, and like the rest of its 

 tribe, feeds chiefly on insects and their larvae. 



