BIRDS OP PENNSYLVANIA, 125 



certain long hairs thrown forward and upward ; bill a bluish horn-color, grooved, 

 wedged at the end, straight and about an inch and a quarter long ; touches of black, 

 proceeding from the lower mandible, end in a broad, black strip that joins the black 

 on the shoulder ; back black, divided by a broad, lateral strip of white, the feathers 

 composing which are loose and un webbed, resembling hairs, whence its name; 

 rump and shoulders of the wing black ; wings black, tipped and spotted with white, 

 three rows of spots being visible on the secondaries and five on the primaries ; 

 greater wing coverts also spotted with white ; tail, as in the others, cuneiform, con- 

 sisting of ten strong-shafted and pointed feathers, the four middle ones black, the 

 next partially white, the two exterior ones white, tinged at the tip with a brownish 

 burnt-color ; tail coverts black ; whole lower side pure white ; legs, feet and claws 

 light blue, the latter remarkably large and strong ; inside of the mouth flesh col- 

 ored ; tongue pointed, beset with barbs, and capable of being protruded more than 

 an inch and a half ; the oshyoides, in this species, passes on each side of the neck, 

 ascends the skull, passes down towards the nostril, and is wound round the bone of 

 the right eye, which projects considerably more than the left for its accommodation. 

 The great mass of hairs that cover the nostril appears to be designed as a protection 

 to the front of the head, when the bird is engaged in digging holes into the wood. 

 The membrane which encloses the brain in this, as in all the other species of Wood- 

 peckers, is also of extraordinary strength ; no doubt, to preventany bad effects from 

 violent concussion while the bird is employed in digging for food. The female 

 wants the red on the hind head, and the white below is tinged with brownish." 

 Wilson. 



Hab. Middle portions of the eastern United States, from the Atlantic coast to the 

 great plains. 



The Hairy Woodpecker is found in Pennsylvania at all seasons of 

 the year. It is quite plentiful, but in many sections, and probably 

 throughout the State, is less abundant than the Downy Woodpecker. 

 The Hairy Woodpeckers, generally shy and somewhat difficult to ap- 

 proach, are found mostly in the woods, and although they sometimes 

 when in quest of food visit the trees in orchards and yards, their visits 

 to these places are much less frequent than those of the little Downy. 



Both the Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers are called u Sap-suckers," 

 by those who are unacquainted with birds, from the common belief 

 that both subsist largely on the sap of apple and other fruit trees. 

 This popular, yet mistaken idea, has induced many farmers and fruit 

 growers to destroy these two species, as well as other Woodpeckers, 

 when found about their orchards. 



FOOD. 



Gentry says : " Its iood consists of the larvae and the pupae of insects 

 which eke out an existence in the outer woody layer, or lie dormant 

 underneath the bark. The small spiders, which also occupy the latter 

 situations, contribute no mean part of their diet. When there is a 

 scarcity of insect food in winter, the seeds of grasses and various kinds 

 of berries are greedily eaten." Wilson refers to this bird as u a haunter 

 of orchards and lover of apple trees, an eager hunter of insects, their 

 eggs and larvae in old stumps and old rails, in rotten branches and 

 crevices of the bark." " The food of this species consists principally 

 of the eggs and larvae of injurious insects that are burrowing in the 



