14. RED-COCKADED WOODPECKER. 



feed on grain and fruits of various kinds. Some of them even come 

 to the ground to search for those which have fallen from the trees, as 

 I found to be the case with the present species, which I repeatedly ob- 

 served so occupied in the Pine Barrens of the Floridas. On such oc- 

 casions it is always silent. It moves in pairs at all seasons, and is ex- 

 tremely pugnacious during the period of incubation, when each male is 

 constantly giving chase to intruders of its own kind. During these 

 encounters, its cries are incessant, and much louder and sharper than 

 on more ordinary occasions. 



Red-cockaded Woodpecker, Picus querulus, Wils. Amer. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 103, 



pi. 15, fig. 1, male. 

 Picus querulbs, Ch. Bunaparte, Synopsis of Birds of United States, p. 46. 

 Red-cockaded Woodpecker, Niittall, Manual, vol. i. p. 577. 



Adult Male. Plate CCCLXXXIX. Fig. 1. 



Bill somewhat shorter than the head, straight, rather slender, ta- 

 pering, angular, at the point compressed and abrupt ; upper mandible 

 with the dorsal line straight, the ridge sharp, the sides sloping, the na- 

 sal groove with a prominent narrow ridge, rather nearer the ridge than 

 the edge at its commencement, but joining the latter about a third 

 from the tip, the edges sharp and direct ; lower mandible with the 

 angle rather short and narrow, the dorsal line straight, the ridge sharp, 

 the edges convex toward the end, the tip compressed, but abrupt. 

 Nostrils basal, lateral, linear-oblong, broader at the base. 



Head of moderate size, ovate, convex above ; neck rather short ; 

 body moderate. Feet short, rather slender ; tarsus short, anteriorly 

 scutellate, laterally covered with angular scales, posteriorly with a row 

 of narrow scutella ; toes four ; the first short, the second next in 

 length, the fourth directed outwards and backwards, and longer than 

 the third ; claws large, strongly arched, compressed, deeply grooved 

 on the sides, tapering to a very acute point. 



Plumage very soft and blended ; feathers at the base of the bill 

 bristly and directed forwards so as to cover the nostrils. Wings 

 long ; the first quill extremely small, being only ten-twelfths long ; 

 the second four-twelfths shorter than the third, which is one-twelfth 

 shorter than the fourth, this being the longest. Tail long, cuneate, 

 of twelve feathers, the lateral very small, weak, and rounded, the rest 



