DOWNY WOODPECKER STARLING. 167 



There came, too, the Stare ( i2 ), made immortal by 

 Sterne, 

 In a lesson which young and which old ought to learn : 



The Auratus, Golden-winged Woodpecker or Flicker, 

 inhabits almost all North America, and is very variegated in 

 its plumage; eleven inches long; migrates; often found in 

 Pennsylvania the whole winter ; feeds on worms, insects, and 

 occasionally on hemes and grass. 



The Pubescens, or Downy Woodpecker has the back longi- 

 tudinally downy ; outer tail feathers white, with four black 

 spots ; hind head in the male red ; size of a sparrow; inhabits 

 North America in vast flocks ; is bold, and very injurious to 

 orchards, making one hole close to another in a horizontal 

 line, till it has completed a circle of holes all round the 

 tree. 



The following may be also mentioned as found in this coun- 

 try; but, as their habits are very similar to the Green Wood- 

 pecker, they require no particular notice. The Villosus or 

 Hairy Woodpecker is nearly nine inches long; above black, 

 beneath white ; found in the north of England, common in 

 America. The Major or Greater Spotted Woodpecker 

 is nine inches long ; the predominating colours of this bird are 

 black and white; eggs five, white. Mr. Sweet informs me 

 that he had one of this species domesticated, and that it de- 

 stroyed and ate small birds. The Minor or Lesser Spotted 

 Woodpecker is only five inches and a half long; eggs five, 

 white. This bird is called in Gloucestershire Hickwull and 

 Crank-bird. 



( 12 ) Order, Passeres, (Linn.) Starling, Water Ouzel,&c. 



The genus Sturnus, (Linn.) to which the Stare, Sturnus 

 Vulgaris, belongs, comprehends nearly forty species, scattered 

 over the globe, two only common to our own country. 



