26 



IVORY-BILLED WOODPECKER. 



the whole day, with the exception of the little intervals when he 

 flies from one place to another. This habit often leads to his 

 destruction, and, as he is everywhere regarded as a destroyer of 

 trees, his extermination is eagerly sought. To this it may be added 

 that the beautiful feathers of his crest are used by Indians for war 

 ornaments, and large numbers of the birds are killed to obtain their 

 feathers. I have seen Indian warriors with their girdles and the 

 tops of their quivers ornamented alternately with the crests and the 

 bills of this Woodpecker. Indian women also use the crests for 

 ornaments. 



Wherever the Ivory-billed frequents, he leaves behind him many 

 mementos of his industry. In such places may be seen gigantic 

 pine-trees, with cart-loads of bark and chips lying around them on 

 the ground, impressing one with the idea that half a dozen wood- 

 cutters must have been at work there for at least half the day. 

 This is all the work of our Ivory-billed Woodpecker, as well as 

 the numerous large excavations with which the trunk of the tree is 

 disfigured. This gives an idea what destroyers of the most useful 

 of our forest trees these Woodpeckers, endowed with so much 

 strength and with such an apparatus for doing work, would neces- 

 sarily be if they were numerous. On the other hand, however, I 

 may say that hundreds of such trees, on which the Ivory-billed had 

 been at work, were closely examined by me, with the conclusion 

 that neither mischief nor amusement was at the bottom of his pro- 

 ceedings. I never found a single sound and healthy tree attacked 

 by him ; but close examination proved clearly that he selected trees 

 for stripping off the bark or excavating the trunks, which were 

 infested with insects and on the way to rapid decay. The deadly 

 crawling vermin form a lodgment under the bark of the trees, and 

 what the proprietor of the forest deplores as the destruction of his 

 timber is caused by their ravages. Hundreds and thousands of 

 pine-trees — many of them from two to three feet in diameter, and 

 over a hundred and fifty feet high — are destroyed in one season by 

 an insect, or rather by the larvas of an insect not larger than a 

 grain of rye. Large spaces covered with dead pine-trees, stripped 

 of their bark, their branches and bare trunks bleached by the rain 

 and the hot rays of the sun, and tumbling to ruin at every blast, 

 present to the beholder frightful pictures of desolation. Yet preju- 

 dice and ignorance stubbornly persist in condemning the Ivory- 

 billed as the destroyer of property, while he is really a benefactor, 

 as he is the constant and deadly enemy of those destructive insects. 

 We ought to be thankful to him, as he shows us by his work where 

 those vermin are causing a destruction in our forests. Until a more 

 effectual preventive of the ravages of these insects is found out and 

 applied, we ought to protect not only the Ivory-billed, but the whole 

 tribe of Woodpeckers. 



Like other Woodpeckers, the Ivory-billed live usually in pairs ; 

 at least until the young are old enough to take care of themselves, 

 and probably during life. The male and female are always seen 

 together; the latter being distinguished by having no red crest, but 

 with the whole head black, inclining to a greenish glass color, and 

 by being more clamorous, less shy, yet more cautious than the 

 male. The time of breeding begins earlier with them than with 

 other Woodpeckers, usually in the month of March. The nest is 

 generally built in a live tree, and at considerable height from the 

 ground — an ash or hagberry tree being preferred. As these birds 

 seek retirement and shelter from the access of water during violent 

 rain-storms, they are very particular as to the position of the tree 

 and the " boring" of their nest-hole. The latter is generally dug 

 immediately under the junction of a large branch with the trunk. 

 It is first bored for a few inches horizontally, and then downward in 

 a direct line, sometimes only a foot, and sometimes between one 

 and three feet deep. The difference in these depths of the nest- 

 hole may be the result of the more or less immediate necessity 

 under which the female may be of depositing her egg. The diam- 

 eter of the cavity of the nest is about eight or nine inches, and its 

 entrance just large enough to admit the passage of the bird. Both 

 male and female work at this excavation alternately. While the 



one is at work, the other will sit outside, encouraging its mate with 

 its chatter. They never make a regular nest ; but the bottom of 

 the cavity is bowl-shaped, and covered with a few small chips, like 

 coarse saw-dust. On this the eggs are deposited, usually five or 

 six in number, and of a clear white color. The young can be seen, 

 a couple of weeks before they are able to fly, creeping out of the 

 hole, and moving about, but returning to the nest again in case of 

 danger. The dress of the young is nearly like that of the female ; 

 but later in the fall this difference vanishes. The young males 

 exhibit the beauty of their plumage in the next spring. After the 

 breeding season, the old pair retire for the night to their nest-hole 

 to sleep. 



The food of the Ivory-billed consists chiefly of beetles or their 

 larvae ; but they also feed on different kinds of berries and fruits, 

 such as mellow persimmons or hagberries. They are particularly 

 fond of ripe wild grapes. I have noticed them, in company with 

 other birds, fluttering about and hanging on the vines in the manner 

 of the Titmouse. Although the Ivory-billed is sometimes seen at 

 work in corn-fields, on standing dry and withered trees, he never 

 meddles with the corn, or with any field or garden fruits. If 

 winged, he runs for the nearest tree in quick hops, and in almost 

 a twinkling he is out of reach, climbing spirally round the trunk, 

 uttering at each leap his " pat, pat, pat," to the top, and there 

 squatting down under the protection of some branch, and keeping 

 perfectly silent. If mortally wounded, he clings to the bark of the 

 tree, and remains hanging there, often for hours after he is quite 

 dead. When the hunter takes him alive and lays hold of him by 

 the hand, he tries to use his bill in the best manner he can in his 

 defense, often inflicting very severe wounds. On such occasions 

 he utters a most piteous cry, not unlike that of a child. Wilson, 

 in his account of this Woodpecker, has the following : 



" In looking over the accounts given of the Ivory-billed Wood- 

 pecker by naturalists of Europe, I find it asserted that it inhabits 

 from New Jersey to Mexico. I believe, however, that few of them 

 are ever seen to the north of Virginia, and very few of them even 

 in that State. The first place I observed this bird at when on my 

 way to the South, was about twelve miles north of Wilmington, in 

 North Carolina. There I found the bird from which my drawing 

 was taken. This bird was only wounded slightly in the wing, and 

 on being caught, uttered a loudly reiterated, and most piteous note, 

 exactly resembling the violent crying of a young child ; which ter- 

 rified my horse so as nearly to have cost me my life. It was dis- 

 tressing to hear it. I carried it with me, in the chair, under cover 

 to Wilmington. In passing through the streets, its affecting cries 

 surprised every one within hearing, particularly the females, who 

 hurried to the doors and windows with looks of alarm and anxiety. 

 I drove on, and, on arriving at the piazza of the hotel where I 

 intended to put up, the landlord came forward, and a number of 

 other persons who happened to be there, all equally alarmed at 

 what they heard. This was greatly increased by my asking 

 whether he could furnish me with accommodations for myself and 

 my baby. The man looked blank and foolish, while the others 

 stared with still greater astonishment. After diverting myself for 

 a minute or two at their expense, I drew my Woodpecker from 

 under the cover, and a general laugh took place. I took him up 

 stairs and locked him up in my room, while I went to see my horse 

 taken care of. In less than an hour I returned, and on opening 

 the door, he set up the same distressing shout, which now appeared 

 to proceed from grief that he had been discovered in his attempts 

 at escape. He had mounted along the side of the window, nearly 

 as high as the ceiling, a little below which he had begun to break 

 through. The bed was covered with large pieces of plaster ; the 

 lath was exposed for at least fifteen inches square, and a hole, 

 large enough to admit the fist, opened to the weatherboards ; so 

 that, in less than another hour, he would certainly have succeeded 

 in making his way through. I now tied a string around his leg, 

 and, fastening it to the table, again left him. I wished to preserve 

 his life, and had gone off in search of suitable food for him. As J 



