( 341 ) r 



THE IVORY-BILLED WOODPECKER. 



Picus PRINCIPALIS, Linn. 



PLATE LXVI. Male and Female. 



1 HAVE always imagined, that in the plumage of the beautiful Ivory- 

 billed Woodpecker, there is something very closely allied to the style of 

 colouring of the great Vandyke. The broad extent of its dark glossy body 

 and tail, the large and well-defined white markings of its wings, neck, and 

 till, relieved by the rich carmine of the pendent crest of the male, and 

 the brilliant yellow of its eye, have never failed to remind me of some of 

 the boldest and noblest productions of that inimitable artist's pencil. So 

 strongly indeed have these thoughts become ingrafted in my mind, as I 

 gradually obtained a more intimate acquaintance with the Ivory-billed 

 Woodpecker, that whenever I have observed one of these birds flying 

 from one tree to another, I have mentally exclaimed, " There goes a 

 Vandyke !" This notion may seem strange, perhaps ludicrous, to you, 

 good reader, but I relate it as a fact, and whether or not it may be found 

 in accordance with your own ideas, after you have inspected the plate in 

 which is represented this great chieftain of the Woodpecker tribe, is per- 

 haps of little consequence. ^^ 



The Ivory-billed Woodpecker confines its rambles to a comparatively} 

 very small portion of the United States, it never having been observed in \ 

 the Middle States within the memory of any person now living there. In 

 fact, in no portion of these districts does the nature of the woods appear 

 suitable to its remarkable habits. 



Descending the Ohio, we meet with this splendid bird for the first 

 time near the confluence of that beautiful river and the Mississippi ; after 

 which, following the windings of the latter, either downwards toward the 

 sea, or upwards in the direction of the Missouri, we frequently observe it. 

 On the Atlantic coast, North Carolina may be taken as the limit of its 

 distribvition, although now and then an individual of the species may be 

 accidentally seen in Maryland. To the westward of the Mississippi, it is 

 found in all the dense forests bordering the streams which empty their 

 waters into that majestic river, from the very declivities of the Rocky 

 Mountains. The lower parts of the Carolinas, Georgia, AUabama, Loui- 



& 



