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THE GOLDEN-WINGED WOODPECKER. 



PLATE XXXVII. Male and Female. 



It is generally agreeable to be in the company of individuals who 

 are naturally animated and pleasant. For this reason, nothing can be 

 more gratifying than the society of Woodpeckers in the forests. To 

 prove this to you, kind reader, I shall give you a full account of the 

 habits of the Golden- winged Woodpecker. 



This species, which is usually called Pique-hois jaune by the French 

 settlers in Louisiana, and receives the name of High-holder, Yucker, and 

 Flicker in other parts of the Union, being seldom or never graced with 

 the epithet Golden-zoinged, employed by naturalists, is one of the most 

 lively of our birds, and is found over the whole of the United States. 



No sooner has spring called them to the pleasant duty of making 

 love, as it is called, than their voice, which, by the way, is not at all dis- 

 agreeable to the ear of man, is heard from the tops of high decayed 

 trees, proclaiming with delight the opening of the welcome season. Their 

 note at this period is merriment itself, as it imitates a prolonged and jo- 

 vial laugh, heard at a considerable distance. Several males pursue a 

 female, reach her, and, to prove the force and truth of their love, bow 

 their heads, spread their tail, and move sidewise, backwards and for- 

 wards, performing such antics, as might induce any one witnessing them, 

 if not of a most morose temper, to join his laugh to theirs. The female 

 flies to another tree, where she is closely followed by one, two, or even 

 half a dozen of these gay suitors, and where again the same ceremonies 

 are gone through. No fightings occur, no jealousies seem to exist among 

 these beaux, until a marked preference is shewn to some individual, when 

 the rejected proceed in search of another female. In this manner all the 

 Golden- winged Woodpeckers are soon happily mated. Each pair imme- 

 diately proceed to excavate the trunk of a tree, and finish a hole in it 

 sufficient to contain themselves and their young. They both work with 

 great industry and apparent pleasure. Should the male, for instance, be 

 employed, the female is close to him, and congratulates him on the re- 

 moval of every chip which his bill sends through the air. While he rests. 



