THE GOLDEN- WINGED WOODPECKER. 



THIS is a bird which has many titles. 

 Most of our common birds have 

 different English names in different parts 

 of the country, but perhaps none have as 

 great a variety as this species. Here is a 

 list of thirty-six which was recently sent 

 to the Natural History department of the 

 Forest and Stream, by Mr. W. W. Colburn, 

 of Springfield, Massachusetts : 



1. Clape. 



2. Crescent Bird West. 



3. Cave-Due Maine. 



4. English Woodpecker Long Island. 



5. Fiddler Cape Cod. 



6. Flicker In general use. 



7. French Woodpecker New Hampshire. 



8. Harry Wicket New Hampshire. 



9. Hick- Wall Connecticut. 



10. High-hold In general use. 



11. High-holder In general use. 



12. High-hole In general use. 



13. Hittock Canada. 



14. Gel Specht Pennsylvania. 



15. Ome-tuc Maine. 



16. Partridge Woodpecker New England. 



17. Pigeon Woodpecker New England. 



18. Pique-bois-jaune Louisiana. 



ig. Piute or Peerit New England. 



20. Sap-sucker Florida. 



21. Shad Spirit New England. 



22. Tapping Bird Massachusetts. 



23. Wake-up New England. 



24. Weather-hen Vermont. 



25. Wild-hen Maine. 



26. Will-Crisson South. 



27. Woodcock (misnomer) New England. 



23. Wood-wall New England. 



29. Wood-pigeon New England. 



30. Woodpecker Lark Georgia. 



31. Wood-quoi Connecticut. 



32. Yaffle Connecticut. 



33. Yarrup Middle States. 



34. Yellow Hammer In general use. 



35. Yellow Jay New Hampshire. 



36. Yucker In general use. 



Most of these names are given from the 

 habits of the bird, or from some physical 

 characters, or arise from some popular idea, 

 which is founded on a supposed habit. 



Thus "high-hole" and "tapping bird" 

 refer to the nesting place of the bird and 

 to its custom of drumming on the limbs of 

 trees; "crescent bird," ^^pique-bois-jaune,'' 

 "yellow hammer" and "yellow jay" to 

 its plumage, "clape," "piute," "yarrup," 

 "yucker," and perhaps "flicker "to its cries. 



One of our most beautiful and most 

 abundant birds, the "yellow-hammer" is 

 found with us of the Middle States almost 

 the whole year round. In Connecticut 

 and southern New York, we have seen it 

 every month in the year, though it is un- 

 usual to find it earlier than April or later 

 than November. 



The courtship of the Golden-winged 

 Woodpecker is very amusing. The ardent 

 male pursues the female through the 

 forest, and alighting on the branch near 

 her, moves backward and forward before 

 her with most grotesque bowings, uttering 

 all the while his shrill cackling notes 

 which Audubon compares to "a prolonged 

 and jovial laugh, heard at a considerable 

 distance, and which may be fairly repre- 

 sented by the syllables whit' -too, whit' -too, 

 whit' -too rapidly repeated many times." 



The Golden-winged Woodpecker builds 

 its nest in a hole, dug usually in a dead 

 tree, sometimes quite high up from the 

 ground, and at others so lov/ down that 

 one. can reach it with the hand. On the 

 chips which form the floor of this hole, the 

 eggs are laid. These are about the size of 

 a pigeon's t%%, and are pure white and 

 beautifully smooth and glossy; the shells 

 are so translucent that sometimes, when 

 fresh, the color of the yolk shows through, 

 giving the eggs a beautiful creamy tinge. 

 Just how many eggs the " high-hole " lays is 

 not certain, but we are sure that they are 

 far more numerous than those of most wild 

 birds. The greatest number of which 

 we have ever heard as being taken from 



