GOLD-WINGED WOODPECKER. g r 



to that bird who, while other tribes are exposed to all the 

 peltings of the midnight storm, lodges dry and secure in a 

 snug chamber of his own constructing? or that "the nar- 

 row circumference of a tree circumscribes his dull round of 

 life," who, as seasons and inclination inspire, roams from the 

 frigid to the torrid zone, feasting on the abundance of various 

 regions ? Or is it a proof that " his appetite is never softened 

 by delicacy of taste," because he so often varies his bill of fare, 

 occasionally preferring to_ animal food the rich milkiness of 

 young Indian corn, and the wholesome and nourishing berries 

 of the wild cherry, sour gum, and red cedar ? Let the reader 

 turn to the faithful representation of him given in the plate, 

 and say whether his looks be "sad and melancholy." It is 

 truly ridiculous and astonishing that such absurdities should 

 escape the lips or pen of one so able to do justice to the re- 

 spective merits of every species ; but Buffon had too often a 

 favourite theory to prop up, that led him insensibly astray ; 

 and so, forsooth, the whole family of woodpeckers must look 

 sad, sour, and be miserable, to satisfy the caprice of a whim- 

 sical philosopher, who takes it into his head that they are, and 

 ought to be so ! 



But the Count is not the only European who has misrepre- 

 sented and traduced this beautiful bird. One has given him 

 brown legs;* another a yellow neck;1* a third has declared 

 him a cuckoo ; J and, in an English translation of Linnseus's 

 " System of Nature," lately published, he is characterised as fol- 

 lows : " Body, striated with black and gray ; cheeks, red ; chin, 

 black ; never climbs on trees ; " § which is just as correct as if, 

 in describing the human species, we should say, — Skin, striped 

 with black and green ; cheeks, blue ; chin, orange ; never 

 walks on foot, &c. The pages of natural history should re- 

 semble a faithful mirror, in which mankind may recognise the 

 true images of the living originals ; instead of which, we find 



* See Encyc. Brit. art. Picus. t Latham. J Klein. 



§ P. griseo nigroque transversim striatus truncos arborum non 



scandit. — Ind. Orn., vol. i. p. 242. 



