44 



GOLD- WINGED WOODPECKER. 



the mere pleasure of destruction, and perhaps for the flavour 

 of his flesh, which is in general esteem. In the State of Penn- 

 sylvania, he can scarcely be called a bird of passage, as, even in 

 severe winters, they may be found within a few miles of the city 

 of Philadelphia; and I have known them exposed for sale in 

 market every week during the months of November, December, 

 and January, and that, too, in more than commonly rigorous 

 weather. They no doubt, however partially, migrate even 

 here, being much more numerous in spring and fall than in 

 winter. Early in the month of April they begin to prepare 

 their nest, which is built in the hollow body or branch of a 

 tree, sometimes, though not always, at a considerable height 

 from the ground ; for I have frequently known them fix on 

 the trunk of an old apple tree, at not more than six feet from 

 the root. The sagacity of this bird in discovering, under a 

 sound bark, a hollow limb or trunk of a tree, and its perse- 

 verance in perforating it for the purpose of incubation, are 



and feed a great deal upon the ground ; they seem also to possess more 

 of the activity of the nuthatch and titmice than the regular climb of the 

 typical "woodpeckers. The golden-winged woodpecker is known to feed 

 a great deal upon ants, seeking them ahout the hills, and, according to 

 Mr Audubon, also picks up grains and seed from the ground. In a 

 Brazilian species, Picus campestris of Spix and Martius, we have analo- 

 gous habits; and, as the name implies, it is often seen upon the ground, 

 frequenting the ordure of cattle, and turning it over in search of insects ; 

 or in the neighbourhood of anthills, where they find an abundant and 

 very favourite food. We find also the general development of form 

 joined to habit in the typical form of another group, the common green 

 and grey-headed woodpeckers of Europe, which feed much on ants, and 

 of course seek them on the ground. 



M. Lesson, in his " Manual d'Ornithologie," has given it the title of 

 Gucwpicus, making the African species typical. He of course was not 

 aware of its having been previously characterised ; and in that of Ame- 

 rica, all the forms are more clearly developed. 



The G. Mexicanus, mentioned before, was met with in the last over- 

 land expedition, and will form an addition to the North American 

 species ; it was killed by Mr David Douglas to the westward of the 

 Rocky Mountains. The more common country is Mexico, whence it 

 extends along the shores of the Pacific some distance northward of the 

 Columbia River, and to New California. — Ed. 



