338 LAND-BIRDS. 



largest, most spirited, and wildest of their tribe, but to the 

 southward they yield to the larger " Ivory-bill," and in Cen- 

 tral America to the magnificent Campephilus imperialis. 

 They live exclusively in heavily timbered country, where they 

 frequent the forests, undisturbed by man, and the backwoods. 

 There, solitarily or in pairs, they remain throughout the year, 

 unless tempted by grain to wander to the fields. They are 

 said to withstand alike the cold of Labrador and the heat of 

 Florida, but in southern New England they are no longer 

 found, though not rare in some parts of the White Mountains, 

 and in like latitudes. They are rather shy, but they may 

 sometimes be seen dexterously stripping off in large sheets 

 the bark of decayed trees and logs, in order to lay bare the 

 remains beneath. " If wounded on a tree, they cling desper- 

 ately ; if shot while flying, they defend themselves with cour- 

 age, often inflicting severe wounds with their powerful bills." 

 They fly in undulations, but rather laboriously, owing perhaps 

 to their great size. They are probably the only members of 

 their family in New England whom the Hawks never attack. 

 One of our common Woodpeckers may sometimes be seen 

 adroitly dodging around some limb, while a disappointed 

 Hawk endeavors to seize him ; but should there be a pair of 

 his enemies, unless he can take refuge in a hole he does not 

 always escape. 



d. The Log-cocks, besides the loud rolling sound of their 

 hammering (audible for even a mile), often produce a loud 

 cackling, not wholly unlike that of a Hen. Hence, a country- 

 man, asked by a sportsman if there were Woodcock in a cer- 

 tain place, answered that he often heard " them hollering in 

 the woods " ! 



