74 BLACK WOODPECKER. 



feathers of the head are erected, and have a beautiful appear- 

 ance fanning in the sun. The beating and vibration of the 

 dead branches, caused by the 'sturdy stroke' of the potent 

 bill of the Black Woodpecker, is said to be heard at the 

 distance of half a mile. 



These birds commence building in the beginning of April, 

 and the nest is placed in the hole of a tree, most frequently 

 the fir, at a height, generally, of about fifty or sixty feet 

 from the ground, or occasionally, in a hollow of a wall. 



The entrance to it is narrow, being only of sufficient 

 diameter to admit a man's hand; but beyond this, it wi- 

 dens in a downward direction, to the width of about nine 

 inches. The chips and splinters made by the bird in excava- 

 ting its nursery, frequently betray the locality to the curious, 

 some of them being of considerable size, even several inches 

 long; so great is the power of the bill, acting almost like a 

 bill-hook. 



The eggs, from three, it is said, to five or six in number, 

 are white, smooth, and shining. The male is reported to 

 take his turn on the nest, and this labour of both lasts for 

 seventeen or eighteen days. The young are fed with ants' 

 eggs, and are so carefully guarded by their parents, that 

 they will hardly quit the nest if it be approached. 



Male; weight, twenty to twenty-three ounces; length, one 

 foot four inches, to as much as one foot seven or eight, ac- 

 cording to different accounts; bill, black at the tip, the 

 base almost white, the remainder bluish horn-colour, ending 

 in yellowish: the upper part is longer than the lower. Iris, 

 pale yellow; a small tuft of bristly feathers extends forwards 

 from the base of the bill; crown, deep rich red, the feathers 

 black at the base. The whole of the rest of the plumage 

 is black, the under part more dull than the upper. 



The wings, which extend to half the length of the tail, 

 have the first feather narrow, pointed, and only two inches 

 in length; the second about five inches long, also narrow and 

 pointed, and of equal length with the ninth; the third 

 shorter than the fourth, fifth, or sixth, which are of about 

 equal length, and the longest in the wing, the fifth the 

 most so; the tips of the wings are rusty black. The two 

 middle feathers of the tail are the longest, the outside ones 

 the shortest, the former being seven inches, and the latter 

 only two and a half long, all much narrowed at the tips, 

 hollowed beneath, and the webs at the tips resembling bristles ; 



