THE PILEATED WOODPECKER. 231 



species that has occurred to me. So much attached is this Woodpecker to 

 the tree in which it has a hole, that during winter it is often seen with its 

 head out, as if looking to the weather, the unfavourable state of which 

 induces it to sink out of sight, and probably compose itself to rest. It may 

 be found in the same neighbourhood during the whole year, and, like many 

 others of this family, it usually spends the night in the same hole. 



Pileated Woodpecker, Picus pileatus , Wils. Amer. Orn., vol. iv. p. 27. 



Picus pileatus, Bonap. Syn., p. 44. 



Picus (Dryotomus) pileatus, Pileated Woodpecker, Swains, and Rich. F. Bor. Amer., 



vol. ii. p. 304. 

 Pileated Woodpecker, or Log-cock, Nutt. Man., vol. i. p. 567. 

 - Pileated Woodpecker, Picus pileatus, Aud. Orn. Biog., vol. ii. p. 74; vol. v. p. 533. 



Male, 18, 28. 



From Texas to the Columbia river, and along the Atlantic coast, as well 

 as in the interior, to the Fur Countries. More abundant in the south. 

 Resident every where. 



Adult Male. 



Bill long, straight, strong, polyhedral, tapering, compressed and slightly 

 truncated by being worn at the tip; mandibles of equal length, both nearly 

 straight in their dorsal outline; their sides convex. Tongue worm-shaped, 

 capable of reaching four inches beyond the bill, horny near the tip for about 

 one-eighth of an inch, and barbed. Nostrils basal, oval, partly covered by 

 recumbent bristly feathers. Head large. Neck rather long, slender. Body 

 robust. Feet rather short, robust; tarsus strong, scutellate before, scaly 

 on the sides; two toes before and two behind, the inner hind toe shortest; 

 claws strong, arched, very acute. 



Plumage compact, glossy. Feathers of the head elongated, loose, and 

 erectile. Wings large, the third and fourth quills longest. Tail long, 

 cuneate, of twelve tapering stiff feathers, worn to a point by being rubbed 

 against the bark of trees. 



Bill and feet deep blue. Iris yellow. The general colour of the plumage 

 is deep black, glossed with purplish-blue. The whole upper part of the 

 head of a shining deep carmine; a broad band of black runs backwards from 

 the eye, and is continued, narrow, to the forehead; between this band and 

 the bright red of the upper part of the head is a narrow line of white; at 

 the base of the bill commences, at first yellowish, a band of white, which 

 crosses the cheek, expands on the side of the neck, where it is joined by the 

 white of the throat, and terminates under the wing; there is also a broad 

 band of red from the base of the lower mandible. Under wing-coverts 

 white, as are the proximal portions of the quills. 



