382 BIRDi3 OF ILLINOIS. 



Ceophloeus pileatus (Linn.) 



PILEATED WOODPECKEB. 



Popular 8ynonyjnB. Woodcock; Black Woodcock; Logcock; Black Loscoob. 

 Picus pileatus Linn. S. N. ed. 12. i. 1766. 173.— Wils. Am. Orn. iv, ISll, 27, pi. 29, flg. 2.— 

 NtJiT. Man. i, 1-32, 537.— AuD. Orn. Biog. ii, 1834, 74; v, 1S39, 533, pi. 111.— B. Am. iv, 

 1842,226, pi. 257. 

 Eylatomus pileatus Bated, B. N. Am. 1858, 107; Cat. N. Am. B. 18.59, No. 90.— CocEs, 

 Key. 1872. 192; Check List,1874,No. 294; 2d ed. 1882, No. 432; B. N. W. 1874, 278; B. B. 

 & K. Hist. N. Am. B. 11.1874,550, pi. 56. figs. 5,6.— Eidgw. Nom.N. Am. B. 1881, No. 317. 

 Ceophlwus pileatus Cabanis, Jotir. fur Orn. 1862, 176. 



Hab. Whole of heavily timbered portions of North America, south to Florida, Texas. 

 New Mexico, and California; north to Nelson river and Fort Laird, or even to between 

 latitude 62° and 63°, in the interior. 



"Sp. Chak. Fourth and fifth quills equal and longest; third intermediate between 

 sixth and seventh. Bill blue-black; more horn-color beneath. General color of body, 

 wings, and tail dull greenish black. A narrow white streak from just above the eye to 

 the occiput; a wider one from the nostril feathers (inclusive), under the eye and along 

 the side of the head and neck; sides of the breast (concealed by the wings), axillaries, 

 and under wing-coverts, and concealed bases of all the quills, with chin and beneath the 

 head, white, tinged with sulphur-yellow. Entire crown from the base of the bill to a 

 well-developed occipital crest, as also a patch on the ramus of the lower jaw. scarlet- red. 

 A few faint white crescents on the sides of the body and on the abdomen. Longer pri- 

 maries generally tipped with white. Length, about 18.00; wing, 9.50. Female without 

 the red on the cheek, and the anterior half of that on the top of the head replaced by 

 black." (Hist. N. Am. B.) 



This noble bird, inferior only to the magnificent Ivory-bill {Cavipc- 

 philus principalis) among North American woodpeckers, occurs in 

 wooded districts throughout the State, being still abundant in the 

 more heavily timbered portions. It is very active and noisy, and 

 therefore as well as on account of its large size and striking colors, 

 is a conspicuous bird. Its blows upon dead trees sound more hke 

 those of a woodman's axe than the hammerings of other wood- 

 peckers, while its spread of wing and general bulk may be compared 

 to that of a crow; and, although a far less powerful bird than the 

 Ivory-bill, it is nevertheless sure to attract the attention, or even 

 excite the enthusiasm, of the ornithologist. 



•'The loud hammering of this large and vigorous bird on the 

 sonorous dried trees, compared with which the tapping of the 

 smaller species is but a weak noise, very soon becomes famihar to 

 the ear of the woodman ; and may designate the bird at a dis- 

 tance. The old adage, 'a workman is known by his chips,' certainly 

 afiBirms much for the industry of this bird. In his search for insects 

 for which he attacks the dead and dying trees, he wiU denude 

 great spaces of the trunk and larger branches in a short time, 

 heaping up the chips and strips of bark on the ground in an as- 



