244 PICUS BOREALIS. 



PICUS BOREALIS. 



Cockaded Woodpecker. 



Picus borealis VIEILL., Oss. Am. Sept., II; 1807, 66. 



* 



DESCRIPTION. 



SP. Cn. Form, not robust. Size, small. Sternum, not very stout. Tongue, rather thin and horny at the tip which 

 is provided with barbs for one third of the terminal length. The extensible sheath occupies about one half of the length of 

 the tongue. Terminal hook of scapula, angled above and below. 



COLOR. Adult male. Glossy black above, including sides of head, the line extending down on to the sides, and spots 

 on sides and flanks, with the bristly feathers at base of bill, line extending "from just in front of eye, inclosing it, broadening 

 out over ear coverts and reaching occiput, transverse bars on back and wings, all but basal portion of two outer tail feath- 

 ers, and tips of next pair, white; but the white of the tail is more or less barred with black. Concealed patches on the 

 sides of occiput, scarlet. Under portion, including under tail and wing coverts, white, with the s-econd row of the latter 

 spotted with black. 



Adult female. Similar to the male, but lacks the scarlet on the head which is replaced by black, and the white on the 

 tail is not as extended. 



OBSERVATIONS. 



There is more black spotting below in some specimens than in others but they are generally quite uniform in color. 

 Readily known f.-om other Wojdpeckers by the absence of any conspicuous red on the head, combined with the transverse 

 bandings above. Distributed, as a constant resident, throughout the Southern Atlantic States, as far north as Pennsylva- 

 nia, but are not common above the Carolinas. 



DIMENSIONS. 



Average measurements of fifty specimens from Florida. Length, 8-25; stretch, 14'37; wing, 4'20; tail, 3*35; bill, '80; 

 tarsus, -80. Longest specimen, 8'75; greatest extsnt of wing, 15'OG; longest wing, 5'00; tail, 3'75; bill, '90; tarsus, '90- 

 Shortest specimen, 7'75; smallest extent of wing, 13'75; shortest wing, 3'40; tail, 2'90; bill, '75; tarsus, '70. 



DESCRIPTION OF NESTS AND EGGS. 



Nests, placed in cylinder-shaped boles, generally excavated in living trees. Dimensions, diameter of external orifice, 

 1'75, greatest internal, 3'00. Internal depth, lO'OO. 



Euys, four or five in number, elliptical inform, pure, polished pearly-white in color. Dimensions from '55 x '70 to 

 65x-75. 



HABITS. 



Wilson called the Cockaded Woodpeckers, Picus querulus, and this seems, at first 

 glance, to be a most appropriate name, for, of all the family, these are not only the most 

 noisy, but their notes are given in a decidedly fretful tone as if the birds were constantly 

 in an irritable state of mind. It must have been upon the impulse of the moment, how- 

 ever, that the Pioneer Ornithologist gave them the name of Querulus Woodpeckers, for a 

 close study of their habits gives a very different impression of them. They are, in fact, 

 a most jovial class of birds, being almost constantly engaged in sporting about the top? of 

 the tall pines or chasing one another from tree to tree, uttering their peevish sounding 

 notes very frequently when in the best humor. The noise is more noticeable because they 

 congregate in flocks, and it is quite rare to find even a pair without other companions. They 

 are also fond of the company of other members of the family and will even associate with 

 the Jays, Blue Birds, or Warblers. This gregarious instinct does not forsake them during 

 the breeding season, for they build in detached communities. The nests are almost always 

 placed in living pines, often thirty' or forty feet from the ground; thus, as the trunks 

 of these trees are covered with a smooth bark, it is quite difficult to climb them and, when 



