598 * BIRDS. 



suited (o his destiny; His legs are strong and muscular ; aud the 

 disposition of his toes, of which two are before, and two backward, 

 is fitted for a vigorous adhesion to the trunks of trees where his 

 work lies. His bill, square at the base, but flattened laterally to- 

 wards the top, like a pair of scissars, is the instrument by which 

 he cuts the trunks of trees, where the insects deposit their eggs. 

 From his bill he darts out his long, round tongue, armed at the top 

 with a short bony substance, like a needle ; and with this instru- 

 ment he stabs aud draws out the small worms found in the timber. 

 His nest is constructed of the raspings of the wood, in the cavity 

 which he has dug ; and it is from the heart of the tree that the pro- 

 geny issues, which is destined to creep around and gnaw it down. 



The genus comprises fifty-eight species, scattered over the globe, 

 but chiefly inhabitants of America ; five or six are natives of own 

 country. 



One of the largest is the great black woodpecker, (picus mar- 

 tius), found in Europe generally, as also in Chili ; resides chiefly 

 among poplar trees ; builds a large and deep nest, and lays from two 

 to three white eggs; feeds principally on bees and ants; from seven- 

 teen to eighteen inches long. In the female the hind-head only 

 is red. 



These birds strike with such force against the trees which they 

 excavate, that their noise is heard as far as that of a wood-cutter's 

 hatchet. They sometimes make a large cavity in the interior part of 

 a tree, which weakens it so much, that it falls with the first gale 

 of wind : and hence they often occasion considerable damage to the 

 proprietors of woods. 



The bird frequently employs this cavity for a nest : which it 

 makes large and commodious, which may be judged from the heaps 

 of broken chips, which are seen at the foot of the tree which has 

 been thus hollowed out. Aristotle asserts, that none of the wood- 

 peckers ever alight upon the ground ; and it must be admitted, that 

 they are seldom seen there. In winter, birds;of this species regularly 

 disappear ; the ants and insects penetrating, in these colder months, 

 ioto the wood so deeply, that they cannot easily be dug out. 



[Pantologia, 



