THE BLACK WOODPECKER. 189 



Curious nest? Description. 



as exactly round as a mathematician could with 

 compasses. As they find no great hardship in 

 making these holes, they are very difficult in 

 their choice, and often make twenty before one 

 gives entire satisfaction ; but having once fixed, 

 they never forsake it until they have brought up 

 their young. Beyond making the cavity, they 

 are extremely indolent with respect to the forma- 

 tion of their nests, not taking the trouble to give 

 them any kind of lining, but deposit their eggs 

 in the hole, without any thing to keep them 

 warm, except the heat of the parent's body. 

 Their number is generally five or six; always 

 white, oblong, and of a middle size. When the 

 young are excluded, and before they leave the 

 nest, they are adorned with a scarlet .plumage 

 under the throat, which adds to their beauty. 



In some parts of the country this bird is called 

 the rain-fowl, because, when it makes a greater 

 noise than usual, it is supposed to ibretel rain. 



THE BLACK WOODPECKER. 



THE black woodpecker weighs about eleven 

 ounces. Its plumage is black ; except the crown 

 of the head, which is of a rich crimson. The 

 head of the female is only marked with red be- 

 hind. The bill is strait, strong and angular, and 

 at the end formed like a wedge, for the purpose 



