192 GOLDEN-WINGED WOODPECKER. 



he appears to be speaking to her on the most tender subjects, and when 

 fatigued, is at once assisted by her. In this manner, by the alternate 

 exertions of each, the hole is dug and finished. They caress each other 

 on the branches, climb about and around the tree with apparent delight, 

 rattle with their bill against the tops of the dead branches, chase all their 

 cousins the Red-heads, defy the Purple Grakles to enter their nest, feed 

 plentifully on ants, beetles and larvae, cackling at intervals, and ere two 

 weeks have elapsed, the female lays either four or six eggs, the whiteness 

 and transparency of which are doubtless the delight of her heart. If to 

 raise a numerous progeny may contribute to happiness, these Wood- 

 peckers are in this respect happy enough, for they have two broods each 

 season ; and as this might induce you to imagine Woodpeckers extremely 

 abundant in America, I may at once tell you that they are so. 



Even in confinement, the Golden-winged Woodpecker never suffers 

 its naturally lively spirit to droop. It feeds well, and by way of amuse- 

 ment, will continue to destroy as much furniture in a day as can well be 

 mended by a different kind of workman in two. Therefore, kind reader, 

 do not any longer believe that Woodpeckers, I mean those of America, 

 are such stupid, forlorn, dejected and unprovided for beings, as they 

 have hitherto been represented. In fact, I know not one of the seventeen 

 species found in our extensive woods, that does not exhibit quite as much 

 mirth and gaiety as the present bird. They are serviceable birds in 

 many points of view, and therefore are seldom shot at, unless by idlers, 

 their flesh, moreover, not being very savoury. They have ample range, 

 and wherever they alight, there is to be found the food to which they at 

 all times give decided preference. 



The flight of this species is strong and prolonged, being performed 

 in a straighter manner than that of any other of our Woodpeckers. They 

 propel themselves by numerous beats of the wings, with short intervals 

 of sailing, during which they scarcely fall from the horizontal. Their 

 migrations, although partial, as many remain even in the middle districts 

 during the severest winters, are performed under night, as is known by their 

 note and the whistling of their wings, which are heard from the ground, 

 although by no means so distinctly as when they fly from a tree or from 

 the earth, when suddenly alarmed. When passing from one tree to ano- 

 ther on wing, they also fly in a straight Une, until within a few yards of 

 the spot on which they intend to alight, when they suddenly raise them- 

 selves a few feet, and fasten themselves to the bark of the trunk by their 



