164 BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 



ORDER PICL WOODPECKERS, ETC. 



FAMILY PICID^S. WOODPECKERS. 



THE WOODPECKERS. 



Of this family there are, Dr. Coues states, nearly two hundred and fifty well deter- 

 mined species ot all parts of the world, except Madagascar, Australia and Polynesia. 

 In all parts of the United States, about two dozen species, and many varieties 

 (" races " ) are given by different writers. I have found in Pennsylvania only seven 

 species of the Woodpeckers, viz : The Hairy, Downy, Yellow-bellied, Pileated, Red- 

 headed, Red-bellied and the Flicker. The Red-cockaded Woodpecker if now found 

 here, occurs only as a straggler, and the Arctic Three-toed Woodpecker (Picoides 

 arcticus} has not been observed in Pennsylvania, so far as I can learn, for many 

 years, probably not since Audubon met with it in the forests of the Pocono mount- 

 ains, Monroe county. I can get no positive evidence that the American Three-toed 

 Woodpecker (Picoides americanus, Brehm.) has been captured here, although 

 a straggler is said to have been taken, some years ago (winter), in the mount- 

 ains. The Pileated, Hairy and Downy are resident, being found in nearly all 

 parts of the commonwealth. The Pileated, of course, is rare or not found at 

 all, in thickly settled districts or sparsely wooded regions. The Red-headed 

 and Flicker are common breeders and in many parts of the state, especially 

 southward, they are resident ; but never as abundant in winter as in the sum- 

 mer season. The Red-bellied and Yellow-bellied are found with us, chiefly, 

 during migrations ; and they breed in some localities. Lumbermen and hunters 

 in the mountainous regions know the Pileated Woodpecker as ''Woodcock" 

 or "Big-wood Picker." The Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers are improperly 

 termed, almost universally, by farmers, fruit-growers and sportsmen, " Sapsuckers." 

 The Redhead is usually particularized by his proper vernacular name, and the 

 Flicker is called by many High-holder and Golden-wing. The other species, occurr- 

 ing here, do not appear to be designated by any particular names by the casual ob- 

 server. Although woodpeckers make no efforts to build nests as other birds gene- 

 rally do, they nevertheless prepare with great care and labor equally suitable recep- 

 tacles for their eggs and young. Woodpeckers lay their eggs,* which are white, and 

 usually number from four to six, on chips and bits of rotten wood in cavities which 

 they excavate with their powerful and chisel-like or wedge-shaped bills, in the dead 

 limbs or trunks of trees. These holes or nesting places oftentimes dug to a con- 

 siderable depth at the mouth are often just sufficiently large to permit the birds to 

 readily pass in and out ; from the entrance downward the diameter of these wooden 

 burrows increase in size. The tongue of all our woodpeckers, with one exception, viz : 

 the Yellow-bellied, is capable of being protruded beyond the point of the bill to a con- 

 siderable extent. The corn.ua or horns of the tongue extending backward, curl up 

 over the back of the skull ; these horns are enveloped in muscles by the action of which 

 the tongue is thrust out. This singular arrangement can easily be demonstrated by 

 simply taking hold of the end of the tongue of a Flicker we will say, and as you move 

 it backward and forward place a finger on the top of the bird's head, and at once a pecu- 

 liar, worm-like movement will be discovered as the horns run back and forth between 

 the skin and bony covering of the head, beneath your finger. The end of the tongue 

 in woodpeckers, other than the species above mentioned, is generally furnished on 

 either side with little barbs, very similar in appearance to those found on small fish- 

 hooks. In the Yellow-bellied Woodpecker the horns of the hyoid bone extend only 



* The following measurements will show about the average size of species which breed In this State : 

 Hairy Woodpecker, about 1 inch long and a little less than 3 wide. Downy Woodpecker, about .80 of an 

 inch long by about .65 wide. Pileated Woodpecker about 1.25 of an inch long by 1 Inch wide. Red- 

 headed Woodpecker, a little over 1 inch long and about .85 of an Inch in width. Flicker, about 1 . in long 

 and .90 wide. Red-bellied about 1.00 long by about .80 wide. Yellow-bellied .HO long by .C8 wide. 



