WO0DPECK.ERS.J 



MUSEUM OF ANIMATED NATURE. 



371 



and has either no vermilion on the head or only a 

 small patch. 



1645. — The-Ivory-Billed Woodpecker 

 (Picks prhicijxdis). Campephilus principalis, G. R. 

 Gray. 



The ivory-billed woodpecker is a native of North 

 America; Wilson says that in strength and mag- 

 nitude it: stands at the head of the whole class of 

 woodpeckers hitherto discovered : but he was not 

 aware, when he wrote, of the existence of a species 

 in California which " as far exceeds the ivory-billed 

 woodpecker of the United States as the latter does 

 the great black woodpecker of Europe." This 

 bird is described by Mr. Gould, in the 'Proceeds. 

 Zool. Soc' 1S32, pp. 139, 140, under the term of 

 Picus impei'ialis : it is two feet in length ; while 

 the ivory-billed woodpecker does Kot exceed 20 or 

 21 inches. 



It is in the swampy forests of the southern dis- 

 tricts of the United States that the ivory-billed wood- 

 pecker is to be found; in the middle districts there 

 are no woods suitable to its remarkable habits. 

 "Descending the Ohio," says Audubon, " we meet 

 with this splendid bird for the first time near the 

 confluence of that beautiful river and the Missis- 

 sippi ; after which, following the windings of the 

 latter, either downwards towards the sea or upwards 

 in the direction of the Missouri, we frequently ob- 

 serve it. On the Atlantic coast, North Carolina may 

 be taken as the limits of its distribution, although 

 now and then an individual of the species may be 

 accidentally seen in Maryland. To the westward 

 of the Mississippi, it is found in all the dense forests 

 bordering the streams which empty their waters 

 into that majestic river, from the very declivities of 

 the Rocky Mountains. The lower parts of the Caro- 

 linas, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi, 

 are, however, the most favourite resorts of this bird ; 

 and in those states it constantly resides, breeds, and 

 passes a life of peaceful enjoyment, finding a pro- 

 fusion of food on all the deep, dark, and gloomy 

 swamps dispersed throughout them." 



Beetles, larvae, and large grubs constitute the 

 chief diet of this species, and for these it attacks the 

 bark and wood of decayed trees, its strokes resound- 

 ing far through the gloomy wilds. " Wherever he 

 frequents," says Wilson, " he leaves numerous monu- 

 ments of his industry behind him; we there see 

 enormous pine-trees with cart-loads of bark lying 

 around their roots, and chips of the trunk itself in 

 such quantities as to suggest the idea that half a 

 dozen axe-men had been at work there for the whole 

 morning. The body of the tree is also disfigured 

 with such numerous and so large excavations, that 

 one can hardly conceive it possible for the whole to 

 be the work of a woodpecker." Audubon says he 

 has seen it detach pieces of bark seven or eight 

 inches in length at a single blow, busy in quest of 

 insects, all the while sounding its loud notes as if 

 highly delighted. Sound and healthy trees, how- 

 ever, are never thus attacked excepting for the pur- 

 pose of nidification. The tree selected for this pur- 

 pose is either an ash, or a hagberry ; and at a great 

 elevation, the pair, relieving each other by turns, be- 

 gin their operations. They generally select a spot 

 under the junction of a large branch with the trunk, 

 as a defence against rain : they first excavate hori- 

 zontally for a few inches, and then downwards, the 

 extent of the cavity varying from a foot to three 

 feet downwards into the core of the tree ; the dia- 

 meter is about seven inches, but. the aperture will 

 only just admit the bird. The eggs, generally six, 

 are white. Two broods are usually reared each 

 summer. Besides insects, this woodpecker devours 

 wild grapes, persimons, and hagberries. The flight 

 of this species is very graceful, though, as Audubon 

 says, seldom prolonged to more than a few hundred 

 yards at a time, unless when it has to cross a large 

 river, which it does in deep undulations; but the 

 transit from tree to tree is performed by a single 

 sweep. It seldom utters any sound while on the 

 wing, but as soon as it alights its voice is heard, the 

 notes resounding to a considerable distance, and 

 may be represented by the monosyllable pait, pait, 

 pait, in tone like the false high note of a clarionet. 



The head and bill of this species are held in great 

 esteem, as a sort of charm or amulet, by many of the 

 tribes of America, who ornament their belts with 

 them ; and Europeans purchase them as beautiful 

 curiosities. When wounded, this bird generally 

 ascends the nearest tree in a spiral direction, till it 

 attains the top branches, where it hides ; but if in- 

 tercepted and laid hold of, it defends itself both 

 with its beak and claws, inflicting severe lacerations. 



The general colour of the plumage of the present 

 speciesis black with violet reflexions; the head is 

 Ornamented with a crest of long slender feathers 

 capable of being raised or depressed, and in the 

 male of a rich carmine ; a stripe of white passes down 

 each side of the neck, and terminates on the scapu- 

 lars ; the primary quills, except the five first, are 

 tipped with white, and the secondaries are wholly 



white: the bill is ivory-white. The female re- 

 sembles the male, except in the colour of the crest, 

 which is black. 



1646. — The Red-head Woodpecker 



(Picus erythrocephalus). This beautiful, active, and 

 lively bird is also a native of the United States of 

 America, and is a migratory species, retiring to 

 southern latitudes on the approach of winter, though 

 many continue during that season in the states of; 

 New York and Pennsylvania, and especially Caro- 

 lina, In the summer this species abounds in the 

 woods, and even close to the precincts of towns and 

 cities, and seems to be but little afraid of man. 

 " When alighted on a fence stake by the road or in 

 a field, and one approaches them (says Audubon), 

 they gradually move sideways out of sight, peeping 

 now and then to discover your intention ; and when 

 you are quite close and opposite, lie still until you 

 are passed, when they hop to the top of the stake, 

 and rattle upon it with their bill, as if to congratu- 

 late themselves on the success of their cunning. 

 Should you approach within arm's length, which 

 may frequently be done, the woodpecker flies to 

 the first stake or the second from you, bends his 

 head to peep, and rattles again, as if to provoke you 

 to continuance of what seems to him excellent sport. 

 He alights on the roof of the house, hops along it, 

 beats the shingles, utters a cry, and dives into your 

 garden to pick the finest strawberries he can disco- 

 ver." No birds are more destructive in gardens ; 

 they devour fruit of all kinds as it ripens, completely 

 stripping the trees ; they carry away to their retreat 

 apples, peaches, cherries, strawberries, &c. ; and as 

 they visit the garden in scores, or even hundreds, 

 they soon clear it. They attack the Indian-corn 

 while in its succulent milky state ; and also rob the 

 nests of small birds of their eggs. To this luxurious 

 bill of fare may be added insects, for which they 

 search with singular dexterity and intelligence, 

 drawing them from their retreats in the crevices of 

 old trees and beneath the mouldering bark. "No 

 sooner have they satisfied their hunger, than small 

 parties of them assemble on the tops and branches 

 of decayed trees, from which they chase different 

 insects that are passing through the air, launching 

 after them for eight or ten yards, at times performing 

 the most singular manoeuvres ; and on securing 

 their victim return to the tree, where immediately 

 after a continued cry of exultation is uttered. 

 They pursue each other on wing in a very amicable 

 manner, in long beautifully curved sweeps, during 

 which the remarkable variety of their plumage be- 

 comes conspicuous, and is highly pleasing to the 

 eye. When passing from one tree to another, their 

 flight resembles the motion of a great swing, and 

 is performed by a single opening of the wings, de- 

 scending at first, and rising towards the spot on 

 which they are going to alight, with ease and in the 

 most graceful manner." 



Like the rest of this tribe, the Red-head, as it is 

 generally called, breeds in the holes of trees which 

 it has worked out, and to which the pair resort, year 

 after year, making it only a little deeper. It is not 

 however, in hard living trees that this species often 

 attempts to make its breeding-chamber. Audubon 

 says he does not remember even a single instance of 

 such an occurrence. 



Wilson observes, that terrible enemy of the 

 feathered race in North America, the black snake 

 (Colubra constrictor), destroys numbers of the young 

 of this bird. " It glides up the trunk of the tree, 

 and, like a skulking savage, enters the woodpeckers' 

 peaceable apartment, devours the eggs or helpless 

 young, in spite of the cries or flutterings of the 

 parents, and, if the place be large enough coils 

 himself up in the spot they occupied, where he will 

 sometimes remain for several days." The plumage 

 of this lively " frolicsome bird" is very beautiful. 

 The head and neck are bright crimson ; back, wing- 

 coverts, primaries, and tail-feathers black, with blue 

 reflexions; rump and secondaries white, the shafts 

 of the latter black ; breast and under parts white 

 tinged with yellowish brown ; an irregular transverse 

 band of black between the crimson of the neck and 

 the white of the breast. Length nine inches. 



1647. — The Yellow-bellied Woodpecker 

 (Picus varius). This species extends in America 

 from Cayenne to Hudson's Bay : during the summer 

 it tenants the depths of the forests remote from 

 villages or settlements, where it breeds and rears its 

 young : in the month of October it quits the forest 

 and approaches the farms and villages, frequenting 

 orchards, not for the sake of fruit, but of insects, in 

 quest of which it bores the trunks of apple-trees. 

 In general habits it resembles the rest of its tribe, 

 but is much more shy than the red-head. 



The colouring of this elegant woodpecker is thus 

 detailed : — the crown of the head a rich deep scarlet, 

 bordered with black on each side, the feathers of 

 the occiput forming a slight crest, which the bird 

 often erects; from the nostrils, which are thickly 



covered with recumbent hairs, a narrow strip of 

 white runs downwards, curving round the breast 

 and mixing with the yellowish white on the lower 

 part of the breast; throat the same deep scarlet as 

 the crown, bordered with black proceeding from the 

 lower rmmdible on each side, and spreading a broad 

 rounding patch on the breast. This black in birds 

 of the first and second year is dusky grey, the feathers 

 being only crossed with circular touches of black ; a 

 line of white, and below it another of black, proceed 

 the first from the upper part of the eye, the other 

 from behind the eye, and lose themselves on the 

 neck and back. Back dusky yellow, sprinkled and 

 elegantly waved with black ; "wings black with a 

 large oblong spot of white ; the primaries tipped 

 and spotted with white ; rump white bordered with 

 black ; belly yellow ; sides under the wings more 

 dusky yellow, marked with long arrow-heads of 

 black ; tail black with white markings ; legs green- 

 ish blue. Length nine inches and a half. The 

 female is marked nearly the same as the male, but 

 wants the scarlet on the throat, which is whitish. 

 The young of both sexes have the crown sprinkled 

 with black and scarlet in October. 



1648. — The Hairy Woodpecker 

 (Picus villosus'). This species, remarkable for the 

 great mass of hairs that cover the nostril, and the 

 hairy quality of the feathers on the back, is another 

 of the species peculiar to North America, and is 

 common in orchards during the autumn and winter, 

 where it bores the bark of the trees, the decayed 

 wood of palings, mouldering logs, &c, in search of 

 insects and their larvae. In the month of May it 

 usually seeks the forest with its mate, and either 

 appropriates a hollow already made, or dies one for 

 the reception of the eggs. In the latter case, ac- 

 cording to Wilson, it first works horizontally for the 

 distance of six or eight inches, and then obtusely 

 downwards for twice that distance, carrying up the 

 chips with the bill and scraping them out with its 

 feet. Not unfrequently they choose large orchards 

 as their summer residence, working out their asylum 

 in the stem of apple-trees or old stakes. Wilson 

 states that their cry is strong, shrill, and tremulous, 

 and that they have also a single note or chuck, which 

 they often repeat in an eager manner as they hop 

 about and dig into the crevices of the tree. The 

 top of the head and a broad stripe behind the eye 

 black; occiput scarlet ; touches of black from the 

 angle of the mouth to a broad black mark before 

 the shoulder; upper plumage generally black with 

 two dorsal lines of white and white bars on the 

 wings ; the under parts white. Length nine inches. 

 The female wants the red on the occiput, which is 

 characteristic of the adult male. 



1649. — The Downy Woodpecker 

 (Picus pubescens). In general habits, manners, and 

 colouring this species resembles the hairy wood- 

 pecker, but is much smaller, measuring about six 

 inches and a half in length. It is a native of North 

 America, frequenting orchards and the neighbour- 

 hood of farm-houses, and is stationary throughout 

 the year. About the middle of May, says Wilson, 

 the male and female look out for a suitable place 

 for the reception of their eggs and young. An 

 apple, pear, or cherry tree is generally selected for 

 this purpose. « The tree is minutely reconnoitred 

 for several days previous to the operation, and the 

 work is first begun by the male, who cuts out a 

 hole in the solid wood as circular as if described by 

 a pair of compasses. He is occasionally relieved by 

 the female, both parties working with the most in- 

 defatigable diligence. The direction of the hole, if 

 made in. the body of the tree, is generally downwards, 

 by an angle of thirty or forty degrees for the distance 

 of six or eight inches, and then straight down for ten 

 or twelve more : within it is roomy, capacious, and 

 smooth as if polished by the cabinet-maker. But the 

 entrance is judiciously left just so large as to admit 

 the bodies of the owners. During this labour they 

 regularly carry out the chips, often strewing them at 

 a distance to prevent suspicion. This operation some- 

 times occupies the chief part of a week. Before she 

 begins to lay, the female often visits the place, exa- 

 mines every part both of the exterior and interior 

 with great attention, and at length takes complete 

 possession. The eggs are generally six, of a pure 

 white, and laid on the smooth bottom of the cavity. 

 The male occasionally supplies the female with food 

 while she is sitting, and about the last week in June 

 the young: are perceived making their way up the 

 tree, climbing with considerable dexterity." 



The note of this active, familiar, little bird is a 

 single chink frequently repeated. "Of all our wood- 

 peckers," says the admirable writer already quoted, 

 "none rid the apple-trees of so many vermin as 

 this ; digging off the moss which the netdisjence of 

 the proprietor had suffered to accumulate, and 

 probing every crevice. In fact the orchard is his 

 favourite resort in all seasons, and his industry is in- 

 cessant. In the fall, he is particularly fond of 



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