AVES-^WOODPECKER. 551 



sends forth a loud cry, upon which the whole insect tribe are thrown into 

 confusion, and run hither and thither seeking for safety ; while the invader 

 luxuriously feasts upon them at leisure, darting in its long tongue, and de- 

 vouring the whole brood. 



The woodpecker, however, does not confine its depredations solely to trees, 

 but sometimes alights upon the ground, to try its fortune at an ant-hill. It 

 first goes to their hills, which it pecks, in order to call them abroad ; it then 

 thrusts out its long red tongue, which being like a worm, and resembling 

 their usual prey, the ants coine out to settle upon it in great numbers; how- 

 ever, the bird, watching the propcrest opportunity, withdraws its tongue at 

 a jerk, and devours the devourers. This stratagem it continues, till it has 

 alarmed their fears, or till it is quite satisfied. 



As the woodpecker is obliged to make holes in trees to procure food, so it 

 is also to make cavities still larger to form its nest and to lay in. This is 

 performed, as usual, with the bill ; although some have afl[irmed that the 

 animal uses its tongue as a gimlet, to bore with. But this is a mistake ; 

 and those that are curious, may often hear the noise of the bill making its 

 way in large woods and forests. The woodpecker chooses, however, for 

 this purpose, trees that are decayed, or wood that is soft, like beech, elm, 

 and poplar. In these, with very little trouble, it can make holes as exactly 

 round as a mathematician could with compasses. One of these holes the 

 bird generally chooses for its own use, to nestle and bring up its young in ; 

 but as they are easily made, it is delicate in its choice, and often makes 

 twenty before one is found fit to give entire satisfaction. 



The woodpecker takes no care to line its nest with feathers or straw ; its 

 eggs are deposited 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. 



THE RED-HEADED WOODPECKERi 



Is one of the most remarkable of American birds. Its tri-colored plumage, 

 red, white, and black, is so striking and characteristic, and his predatory 

 habits in the orchards and corn-fields, added to his numbers and fondness for 

 hovering along the fences, so very notorious, that almost every child is ac- 

 quainted with the red-headed woodpecker. Towards the mountains, par- 

 ticularly in the vicinity of creeks and rivers, these birds are extremely 

 abundant, especially in the latter part of the summer. Wherever you travel 



1 Picus erythrocephaltis, Lin. 



