P I c 
f 1 1 
PIL 433 
nhd generally pretty high from the ground. 
It is accounted by many people very good 
eating. 
4. The picus pubescens, or little wood- 
pecker, weighs only one ounce and a half. 
The top of the head is black, and on each 
side above the eye is a white line ; the hind 
head is red ; the hind part of the neck, the 
back, and rump, are black, which is di- 
vided into two parts by a tine of white pass- 
ing down the middle to the rump. The fe- 
male has no red on the hind head. It abounds 
in New Jersey, where it is esteemed most 
dangerous to orchards, and is the most dar- 
ing. As soon as it has pecked one hole in a 
tree, it makes . another close to the first, in 
an horizontal direction, proceeding till it 
has made a circle of holes quite round the 
tree; and the apple-trees in the orchards 
have often several of these rings of holes 
round the stem, insomuch that the 1 tree fre- 
quently dries up and decays. 
5. The yellow woodpecker is about nine 
inches long. The hind head is crested ; 
the head itself, the neck, and whole body, 
are covered with dirty-white feathers ; 
from the lower jaw to the ears, on each side, 
there is a red stripe. This species is com- 
mon at Cayenne, and is called there char- 
pentier jaune. It makes its nest in old trees 
which are rotten within. The note of this 
bird is a kjnd of whistle six times repeated, 
of which the two or three last are in a graver 
accent than the otiiers. The female wants 
the red band on the side of the head which 
is seen in the male. 
6. The viridis, or green woodpecker, 
weighs six ounces and a half; its length is 
thirteen inches, the breadth twenty and a 
half; the bill is dusky, triangular, and near 
two inches long ; the crown of the head is 
crimson, spotted with black ; the eyes are 
surrounded with black, and the males have 
a rich crimson mark beneath the blackness ; 
the rump is of a pale yellow ; the whole of 
the under part of the body is ol a very pale 
green. These birds feed entirely on insects; 
and their principal action is that of climbing 
up and down the bodies or boughs of trees. 
This species feeds oftener on the ground 
| than any other of the genus: all of them 
make their nests in the hollows of trees ; 
| and lay five or six eggs, of a beautiful semi- 
transparent white. The young ones climb 
up and down the trees before they can fly. . 
It is common in England. 
7. The major, or great spotted wood- 
pecker, weighs two ounces three quarters ; 
the length is nine inches ; the breadth is six- 
teen. The forehead is of a pale buff-colour; 
the crown of the head a glossy black.; the 
hind-part marked with a rich deep crimson 
spot. The cheeks are white, bounded be- 
neath by a black line that passes from the 
| corner, of the mouth and surrounds the hind 
part of the head. The neck is encircled 
with a black colour. The throat and breast 
are of a yellowish white ; the vent-feathers 
of a fine light crimson. The back, rump, 
aud coverts of the tail, and lesser coverts of 
the wings, are black ; the scapular feathers 
and coverts adjoining to them are white. The 
quill-feathers are black, elegantly marked on 
I each web with round white spots. The fe- 
[ male wants the beautiful crimson spot on the 
[ head : in other respects the colours of both | 
VOL. II. 
agree. This species is much more uncom- 
mon than the preceding, and keeps altoge- 
ther in the woods. T his bird is found in 
England, France, and Germany, and other 
parts of Europe, frequenting the woods like 
the rest of its genus, and is likewise met with 
in America, it is a very cunning bird ; for, 
when a person has seen one on a tree, he is 
almost sure to lose sight of it, if the tree is 
large, and the observer not very attentive ; 
for, the moment it spies any one, it will creep 
behind a branch, and there lie secure till the 
danger is over. 
PIEPOUDRE ( Court of), the lowest, 
and at the same time the most expeditious, 
court of justice known to the law of England. 
It is called piepoudre (curia pedis pulveri- 
sati) from the dusty feet of the suitors. But 
the etymology given us by a learned modern 
writer is much more ingenious aud satisfac- 
tory ; it being derived, according to him, 
from pied puldreaux, “ a pedlar,” in old 
French, and therefore signifying the court of 
such petty chapmen as resort to fairs or 
markets. It is a court of record, incident to 
every fair and market; of which the steward 
of him who owns or holds the toll of the mar- 
ket is the judge. It was instituted to admi- 
nister justice for all commercial injuries done 
in that very fair or market, and not in any 
preceding one; so that the injury must be 
done, Complained of, heard, and determined, 
within the compass of one and the same day, 
unless the fair continues longer. The court 
has cognizance of all matters of contract that 
can possibly arise within the precinct of that 
fair or market; and the plaintiff must make 
oath that the cause of action arose there. 
From this court a writ of error lies, in the na- 
ture of an appeal, to the courts at West- 
minster. 
PIGEONS. Every person who shall 
shoot at, kill, or destroy a pigeon, may be 
committed to the common jail for three 
months, by two justices of the peace, or pay 
2Q.y, to the poor. 1 Jac. I. c. 27. 
PIKE, an offensive weapon, consisting of 
a shaft of wood, twelve or fourteen feet long, 
headed with a flat-pointed steel, called the 
spear. The pike was a long time in use 
among the infantry, to enable them to sustain 
the attack of the cavalry ; but it is now taken 
from them, and the bayonet, which fixes on 
at the end of the carabine, is substituted in its 
place. Yet the pike still continues the weap- 
on of the serjeants of foot, who perform no 
motions with it but in charging. 
PILASTER. See Architecture. 
PILE, in artillery, denotes a collection 
or heap of shot or shells, piled up by hori- 
zontal courses into either a pyramidal or . lse 
a wedgelike form ; the base being an equi- 
lateral triangle, a square, or a rectangle. In 
the triangle and square, the pile terminates 
in a single ball or point, and forms a pyra- 
mid. 
In the triangular and square piles, the 
number of horizontal rows, or courses, or the 
number counted on one of the angles from 
the bottom to the top, is always equal to 
the number counted on one side, in the 
bottom row. And in rectangular piles, the 
number of rows, or courses, is equal to the 
number of balls in the breadth of the bottom 
row, or shorter side of the base ; also in this 
case, the number in the top row, or edge, is 
one more than the difference between the 
length and breadth of the base. 
The courses in these piles are figurative 
numbers. 
In a triangular pile, each horizontal course 
is a triangular number, produced by taking 
the successive sums of the ordinate numbers, 
viz. 
1 = 1 
1+2 =3 
1+2 + 3 =6 
1 + 2 +'3 + 4 = 10, &c. 
And the number of shot in the triangular 
pile, is the sum of all these triangular numbers, 
taken as far, or to as many terms, as the number 
in one side of the base. And therefore, to find 
this sum, or the number of all the shot in the 
pile, multiply continually together the number 
in one side of the base row, and that number 
increased by 1 , and the same number increased 
by 2 ; then -g- of the last product will be the an- 
swer, or number of all the shot in the pile. 
n ii 1 1 n 1 2 
That'is, — — is the sum : where 
’ 6 
n is the number in the bottom row. 
Again, in square piles, each horizontal course 
is a square number, produced by taking the 
square of the number in its side, or the succes- 
sive sums of the odd numbers, thus, 
1 = 1 
1+3 =4 
1+3+5 =9 
1 + 3 + 5 + 7 = 16, &c. 
And the number of shot in the square pile k 
the sum of all these square numbers, continued 
so far, or to as many terms, as the number in 
one side of the base. And therefore, to find thie 
sum, multiply continually together the number 
in one side of the bottom course, and that num- 
ber increased by 1 , and double the same num- 
ber increased by 1 ; then of the last product 
will be the sum or answer. 
That is, 
n . n + 1 . 2 « + 1 
is the sum. 
In a rectangular pile, each horizontal course 
is a rectangle, whose two sides have always the 
same difference as those of the base course, and 
the breadth of the top row, or edge, being only 
1 ; because each course in ascending has its 
length and breadth always less by 1 than the 
course next below it. And these rectangular 
courses are found by multiplying successively 
the terms or breadths 1,2, 3, 4, & c. by the same 
terms added to the constant difference of the 
two sides d ; thus, 
1.1+^= 1 + d 
2.2 + ^= 4 + 2 d 
8 . 3 + = 9 + 8 ^ 
4 . 4 + d = 16 + 4d, & c. 
And the number of shot in the rectangular 
pile is the sum of all these rectangles, which, it 
is evident, consist of the sum of the squares, to- 
gether with the sum of an arithmetical progres- 
sion, continued till the number of terms is the 
difference between the length and breadth of 
the base, and I less than the edge or top row. 
And therefore, to find this sum, multiply con- 
tinually together the number in the breadth of 
the base row, the same number increased by 1 , 
and double the same number increased by 1 , 
and also increased by triple the difference be- 
tween the length and breadth of the base; thea 
-g- of the last product will be the answer. 
. b.b4- 1 ,24 + 3rf+l . , 
That is, 2 -— 1 1 — is the sum ; 
where b is the breadth of the base, and d the 
difference between the length and breadth 
the bottom course. 
