235 



CANADIAN WOODPECKER. 



-f Picus canadensis, Gmel. 



PLATE CCLVIIL— Male. 



This species, which has been overlooked by all the recent writers on the 

 birds of North America, although described and figured by Buffon, I again 

 introduce to your notice. If you compare the figure of it with that of the 

 Hairy Woodpecker, Picus villosus, you will perceive that it is much larger, 

 and somewhat differently marked, although extremely similar in form and 

 colours. 



The most southern localities in which this species has been observed in 

 the United States, in so far as I have been able to trace it, whether person- 

 ally or by means of my friend Dr. Trudeau, are the northern portions of 

 the State of Pennsylvania, in winter, where, however, it seems to be rare. 

 It is more plentiful at that season in the same parallel in the State of New 

 York, beyond which, northward, it is abundant up to the 56th degree, but 

 then yields in frequency to the Common Three-toed Woodpecker. 



It was in the course of my journey through the State of Maine, on which 

 I was accompanied by my wife and sons, that I became aware of its being 

 distinct from the Hairy Woodpecker. There I found it very abundant in 

 the woods, around the farms, by the roads, and on the fences. Its notes 

 alone suffice to distinguish it from every other species, being louder and 

 much shriller than those of Picus villosus. It also resorts to prostrate 

 decaying logs lying on the ground, in quest of food, much more than that 

 species does, and quite as much as the Pileated Woodpecker, P. pileatus. 

 During its flight, the rustling sound of its wings is very remarkable; its 

 passage from one tree to another appears more laborious, and in all its move- 

 ments it is less active, restless, or petulant, than the Hairy Woodpecker. 

 Those which I examined contained remains of large coleopterous insects, 

 together with pieces of lichens. 



Of its manner of breeding, eggs, or young, I unfortunately know nothing. 

 The female differs from the male in little more than in wanting the red 

 patch on each side of the occiput. 



Picds canadensis. Gmel. Syst. Nat., vol. i. p. 437. 



Picus (Dendrocopus) villosus, Hairy Woodpecker, Swains, and Rich. F. Bor. Amer., 



vol. ii. p. 305. 

 Canadian Woodpecker, Picus canadensis, Aud. Orn. Biog., vol. v. p. 188. 



