PLATE X. 
Tht 
Woodpecker. 
r ROM the obfervation frequently made of thefe birds being feldom found but in pairs, it is con- 
cluded that they are pa.red all the year. In their nature they are very re„,arkable : they difplay 
amazing ftrength in their flight, for one ftroke will carry them more than twenty yards : and when 
the. flight is upon the decline, they rife, and renew it. until they arrive at the tree in view. They 
alight upon the fide, and run fwiftly round and round to conceal themfelves from every beholder ; 
and having reached that part which is moft diftant from the enemy, they peep on one fide, and 
then on the other; fo that it is curious to mark the various operations of this ftratagem. From this 
extreme caution they are difficult to fhoot. 
Their tail feathers, which arefhort and ftumpey, they place clofe to the tree, as a fupport. Then 
it is they begin to work for their food, the infefls. that live between the bark and the tree. Their 
tongue ,s much like that of other birds; but when they fearch for their food the flrength of it . 
wonderful: they dart it feveral inches, as from a Iheath : it is round, and hard, and very wiry' at 
the tip. They work it under the bark of the tree, and the infeas, which inhabit there, being dif- 
turbed, immediately run out. and. the tongue of the bird having refumed its natural length, the ex- 
pefted aliment is obtained. For the fecurity of their young it is common with them to feleft a hol- 
low tree : and, for a neft, their bill is fo hard as to peck a hole in the wood ; and this is done with 
fo much violence and force that the noife of it is heard at the diftance of more than one quarter of a 
mile. The afh is their general objea, and their neft, being very deep in the trunk of the tree, is 
not eafily acceffible. 
No. IV. 
