Birds. 2987 



inches, and then downward, obtusely, for twice that distance ; carrying 

 up the chips with his bill, and scraping them out with his feet. They 

 also not unfrequently choose the orchard for breeding in, and even an 

 old stake of the fence, which they excavate for this purpose. The 

 female lays five white eggs, and hatches in June. This species is 

 more numerous than the yellow-bellied woodpecker {Picus varius) in 

 Pennsylvania, and more domestic ; frequently approaching the farm- 

 house and skirts of the town. In Philadelphia I have many times ob- 

 served them examining old ragged trunks of the willow and poplar 

 while people were passing immediately below. Their cry is strong, 

 shrill and tremulous; they have also a single note or chuck, which 

 they often repeat, in an eager manner, as they hop about, and dig into 

 the crevices of the tree. They inhabit the continent from Hudson's 

 Bay to Carolina and Georgia. 



" The hairy woodpecker is nine inches long, and fifteen in extent ; 

 crown, black ; line over and under the eye, white ; the eye is placed in 

 a black line, that widens as it descends to the back; hind head 

 scarlet, sometimes intermixed with black ; nostrils hid under remark- 

 ably thick, bushy, recumbent hairs or bristles ; under the bill are 

 certain long hairs thrown forward and upward ; bill, a bluish horn- 

 colour, grooved, wedged at the end, straight, and about an inch and 

 a quarter long ; touches of black, proceeding from the lower mandible, 

 end in a broad black strip that joins the black on the shoulder; back 

 black, divided by a broad lateral strip of white, the feathers composing 

 which are loose and unwebbed, resembling hairs, whence its name ; 

 rump and shoulders of the w T ing, black ; wings, black, tipped and 

 spotted with white, three rows of spots being visible on the secondaries, 

 and five on the primaries ; greater wing-coverts also spotted with 

 white ; tail, as in the others, cuneiform, consisting of ten strong- 

 shafted and pointed feathers, the four middle ones black, the next 

 partially white, the two exterior ones white, tinged at the tip with a 

 brownish burnt colour; tail-coverts, black; whole lower side, pure 

 white ; legs, feet, and claws, light blue, the latter remarkably large 

 and strong ; inside of the mouth, flesh-coloured ; tongue, pointed, 

 beset with barbs, and capable of being protruded more than an inch 

 and a half; the os hyoides, in this species, passes on each side of the 

 neck, ascends the skull, passes down towards the nostril, and is wound 

 round the bone of the right eye, which projects considerably more 

 than the left for its accommodation. The great mass of hairs that 

 cover the nostril, appears to be designed as a protection to the front 

 of the head, when the bird is engaged in digging holes into the wood. 



