WOODPECKERS. 



97 



CHAPTER VI. 



ORDER PICARI^E. 

 WOODPECKERS (Picidat). 



In their cranial characters these birds are related to 

 the Kingfishers, Rollers, Bee-eaters, etc. ; in the struc- 

 ture of their muscles and digestive organs to the King- 

 fishers and Hoopoes. Their tongue is long and worm- 

 like, with spiny tip, and is coated with a viscid 

 secretion by the action of the salivary glands ; a muscle 

 known as the genio-hyoideus, arising from near the 

 middle of the mandibular bar, extends as a ribbon to the 

 hyoid 'bone, round which it twists loosely, and being 

 attached to the dorsal extremity, the contraction of the 

 spiral surrounding the hyoid horns protrudes them with 

 great force to a remarkable extent, thus enabling the 

 bird to coax out of their retreats the grubs which form 

 its food (cf., Newton, " Dictionary of Birds," pp. 619, 

 620. and 975).* 



The Woodpeckers are climbing birds ; two toes being 

 directed forwards and two backwards, their tails con- 

 sisting of ten to twelve stiff feathers, which help to 

 support them when ascending a tree ; even the Wry- 

 necks, which have soft tail-feathers, press them against 

 the surface up which they are mounting, as I have 

 myself observed in captive birds. The bills of Wood- 

 peckers are long and wedge-shaped, enabling them to 

 bore into trees in which they nest; they do not build, 

 but lay their eggs upon the chips and rotten wood at 

 the bottom of the tunnel or boring ; the eggs are smooth 

 and white ; they are chiefly insectivorous, feeding 

 largely upon insects and their larvae, which they dig out 

 of rotten wood or extract from the holes in which they 

 are concealed ; ants, too, enter largely into their bill of* 

 fare, as also berries and fruits. 



In captivity, Woodpeckers cannot be associated with 

 other birds, nor must two species of the family be kept 

 together on account of their pugnacity ; even young 

 from the same nest are liable to fight at an early age. 

 They can be fed in confinement upon finely-scraped raw 

 beef mixed with soaked breadcrumbs and egg, crushed 

 hemp, nuts, small fruits, ibut always plenty of living 

 insects. Personally, I should substitute a good insecti- 

 vorous food for the scraped beef, as the latter always 

 has a tendency to relax the bowels and produce cramp 

 or fits ; I have, however, kept none of the foreign 

 Woodpeckers myself. 



Dr. Russ gives a very full account of Campophilus 

 principally, the " Ivory-billed Woodpecker " of North 

 America, but I cannot discover that it has ever been 

 imported into Europe. 



GOLDEN-WINGED WOODPECKER (Colaptes auratus}. 



Back, scapulars and wing-coverts drab-brown with 

 narrow black bars ; rump and upper tail-coverts white, 

 the latter barred and mottled with black ; flights 

 blackish brown, with golden yellow shafts ; the primaries 

 with a few sordid white spots towards base of outer 

 webs, the margins of inner webs more or less buffy 

 white ; innermost secondaries barred throughout with 

 drab, the others with drab-spotted outer webs and the 

 margins of inner webs margined with buffy white ; 

 tail black, the shafts (excepting of the two central 

 feathers, which are only yellow at base) golden yellow, 



* A beautiful anatomical preparation of this structure is 

 exhibited in the Natural History Museum at South Kensington. 



more or less deeply tipped with black ; outer feather 

 white-tipped and with a few buff-whitish specks on 

 outer web; crown and hind neck smoky grey; nuchal 

 band scarlet ; nasal plumes, lores, and eyebrow red- 

 dish ; face, chin, throat and fore neck vinous reddish 

 drab ; a moustachial streak and a broad crescentic patch 

 on the chest, black ; body below white, more or less 

 suffused with vinous drab and spotted with black; 

 under tail-coverts white, barred and mottled with 

 black ; under wing-coverts pale buff, edge of wing white 

 with black spots ; axillaries yellowish white ; flights 

 and tail-feathers below mostly golden yellow. Female 

 differs in wanting the black moustachial streak. Hab., 

 " Eastern United States west to the Great Plains, north 

 to Hudson's Bay and Alaska, occurring occasionally on 

 the Pacific Slope of the Rocky Mountains from Cali- 

 fornia northwards." (Hargitt.) 



In his " Ornithology of California " J. G. Cooper does 

 not des-criba this species, but refers to hybrids between 

 C. mexicanus and C. auratus as the C. hybridus of 

 Baird and C. ayresii of Audubon. Hargitt regards the 

 latter as a race distinct from C. auratus, although 

 presumably originally produced by hybridisation, on 

 the assumption that it is a fertile hybrid. (" Catalogue 

 of Birds," Vol. XVIII., p. 23.) 



Major Bendire says ("Life Histories," Vol. II., pp. 

 130-134) : " The Flicker is one of the most sociable 

 of our Woodpeckers, and is apparently always on good 

 terms with its neighbours. Birds which migrate 

 usually return to their summer homes early in April, 

 and occasionally even in March, and one will not have 

 far to go then without hearing some of its many and 

 rather melodious calls. The males usually precede the 

 females a few days, and as soon as the latter arrive 

 one can hear their well-known voices in all directions. 

 One of their commonest calls at this season of the year 

 is a clear " whick-ah, whick-ah"; another sounds like 

 " quit-u, quit-u," a number of times repeated ; 

 " tchuck-up, tchuck-up," is another familiar sound 

 uttered by them; a far-reaching " clape, clape," is also 

 frequently uttered, while a quickly given rolling or 

 rattling '' thee-he-he-he-he " and a low " cack-cack. 

 cack " seem to be the notes of endearment. Another 

 call when courting its mate sounds like "ouit-ouit," 

 and ends with a soft " puir, puir," or a cooing " yu-cah, 

 yu-cah." Low, chuckling sounds are also frequently 

 uttered during their love-making ; another common 

 call-note sounds like "zee-ah, zee-ah," and during the 

 summer a clear " pi-ack, pi-ack," or " pioh," is also 

 frequently heard ; in fact, no other of our Woodpeckers 

 utters such a variety of sounds. 



" The Flicker is especially demonstrative during the 

 mating season, and is an ardent wooer. It is an exceed- 

 ingly interesting and amusing sight to see a couple of 

 males paying their addresses to a coy and coquettish 

 female ; the apparent shyness of the suitors as they 

 sidle up to her and as quickly retreat again, the sly 

 glances given as one peeps from behind a limb watching 

 the other playing bo-peep seem very human, and I 

 have seen few more amusing performances than the 

 courtship of a pair of these birds. The defeated suitor 

 takes his rejection quite philosophically, and retreats 

 in a dignified manner, presumably to make another trial 

 elsewhere. I have never yet seen a pair of males fight 

 over a coveted female. Few birds deserve our goodwill 

 more than the handsome Golden-winged Woodpecker, 

 and it is well entitled to all of the consideration 

 generally shown it. Looked at from an economic point 

 of view, it is an exceedingly useful bird, destroying 



