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. Trees 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 I 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. I 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. I 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- 

 E2 



