232 THE PILEATED WOODPECKER. 



Length 18 inches; extent of wings 28; bill along the back If, along the 

 edges 3. 



Adult Female. 



The female differs little in external appearance from the male. The fore 

 part and sides of the head over the eye are dusky, and the bright red of the 

 upper part of the head is confined to the vertex and occiput, while the red 

 band, from the base of the lower mandible, is substituted by one of a 

 brownish colour. In other respects it resembles the male. 



Young Males. 



The young males, fully fledged, differ little from the old males in the tints 

 and distribution of their colours; but they are represented in the plate for 

 the purpose of shewing the original pointed form and greater length of the 

 bill. 



The Racoon Grape. 



Vitis aestivalis, Mich., Flor. Amer., vol. ii. p. 230. Pursh, Flor. Araer. Sept., vol. i. p. 

 169. — Pentandria Monogynia, Linn. — Vites, Juss. 



The racoon grape is characterized by its broadly-cordate leaves, which 

 have three or five lobes, its oblong clusters, and the small size of the bluish- 

 black fruit. It is one of the finest of our vines, in regard to the luxuriance 

 of its growth, its tortuous stem ascending the tallest trees to their summit, 

 while its branches spread out so as to entwine the whole top. I have seen 

 stems that measured eighteen inches in diameter, and the branches often 

 extended from one tree to another, so as to render it difficult to pull down a 

 plant after its stem has been cut. Its flowers perfume the woods. The 

 grapes are small, hard, and very acrid, until severely bitten by frost. In 

 autumn and winter, racoons, bears, opossums, and many species of birds, 

 feed upon them. 



