GOLD-WINGED WOODPECKER. 30 
neck, below this, incline to a bluish gray; throat and chin, a very 
light cinnamon or fawn color; the breast is ornamented with a broad 
crescent of deep black; the belly and vent, white, tinged with yellow, 
and scattered with innumerable round spots of black, every feather 
having a distinct central spot, those on the thighs and vent being 
heart-shaped and largest ; the lower or inner side of the wing and 
tail, shafts of all the larger feathers, and indeed of almost every 
feather, are of a beautiful golden yellow; that on the shafts of the 
primaries being very distinguishable, even when the wings are shut; 
‘the rump is white, and remarkably prominent; the tail-coverts white, 
and curiously serrated with black ; upper side of the tail, and the tip 
below, black, edged with light, loose filaments of a cream color, the 
two exterior feathers serrated with whitish; shafts, black towards the 
tips, the two middle ones, nearly wholly so; bill, an inch and a half 
long, of a dusky horn color, somewhat bent, ridged only on the top, 
tapering, but not to a point, that being a little wedge-formed; legs 
and feet, light blue; iris of the eye, hazel; length, twelve inches; 
extent, twenty. The female differs from the male chiefly in the 
greater obscurity of the fine colors, and in wanting the black mus- 
taches on each side of the throat. This description, as well as the 
drawing, was taken from a very beautiful and perfect specimen. 
Though this species, generally speaking, is migratory, yet they 
often remain with us in Pennsylvania during the whole winter. They 
also inhabit the continent of North America, from Hudson’s Bay to 
Georgia ; and have been found by voyagers on the north-west coast of 
America. They arrive at Hudson’s Bay in April, and leave it in Sep- 
tember. Mr. Hearne, however, informs us, that “the Gold-winged 
Woodpecker is almost the only species of Woodpecker that winters 
near Hudson’s Bay.” The natives there call it Ou-thee-quan-nor-ow, 
from the golden color of the shafts and lower side of the wings. It 
has numerous provincial appellations in the different states of the 
Union, such as “ High-hole,” from the situation of its nest, and “ Hit- 
tock,” “ Yucker,” “ Piut,” “ Flicker,” by which last itis usually known in 
Pennsylvania. These names have probably originated from a fancied 
resemblance of its notes to the sound of the words; for one of its 
most common cries consists of two notes, or, syllables, frequently re- 
peated, which, by the help of the hearer’s imagination, may easily be 
made to resemble any or all of them. 
