RED-COCKADED WOODPECKER. 45 



the vent white, spotted with black; the hairs that cover the nos- 

 trils are of a pale cream colour; the bill deep slate; but what 

 forms the most distinguishing peculiarity of this bird, is a fine 

 line of vermilion, on each side of the head, seldom occupying 

 more than the edge of a single feather. The female is destitute 

 of this ornament; but in the rest of her plumage differs in no- 

 thing from the male. The iris of the eye, in both, was hazel. 

 The stomachs of all those I opened were filled with small 

 black insects, and fragments of large beetles. The posterior ex- 

 tremities of the tongue reached nearly to the base of the upper 

 mandible. 



