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THE IVORY-BILLED WOODPECKER. 



-f-Picus principalis, Linn. 

 PLATE CCLVI.— Male and Females. 



I 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 bill, 

 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 splendid 

 species of the Woodpecker tribe, is perhaps 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 distribution, 

 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, Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi, 

 are, however, the most favourite resorts of this bird, and in those States it 

 constantly resides, breeds, and passes a life of peaceful enjoyment, finding 



