64 
NATURAL HISTORY. 
and those that are curious, may often hear the noise of the 
bill making its way in large woods and forests. The wood- 
pecker chooses, however, for this purpose, trees that are de- 
cayed, or wood that is soft, like beech, elm and poplar. In 
these, with very little trouble, it can make holes as exactly 
round as a mathematician could with compasses. One of 
these holes the bird generally chooses for its own use to 
nestle, and bring up its young in ; but as they are easily 
made, it is delicate in its choice, and often makes twenty 
before one is found fit to give entire satisfaction. 
The woodpecker takes no care to line its nest with feathers 
or straw ; its eggs are deposited in the hole, without any 
thing to keep them warm, except the heat of the parent’s body. 
1 heir number is generally live or six ; always white, oblong, 
and of a middle size. YVhen the young are excluded, anil 
before they leave the nest, they are adorned with a scarlet 
plumage under the throat, which adds to their beauty. 
1 he foi eign birds of this genus are too numerous to specify. 
Let us therefore, instead of entering into the minuteness of 
description, select one as a specimen. The Buff-crested, 
Woodpecker of Surinam is in length twelve inches and 
half. The whole head is crested, the fore part of which is 
black, the hinder part buff-coloured. The general colour of 
the plumage is brown black, but the sides of the neck and 
the breast are white streaked with black. The Minute 
” oodpecker which inhabits Cayenne is only three inches 
anti a half in length, or about the size of a wren. 
Of the Oriole, there appears to be only one species 
known in Europe ; this is by some termed the Golden Oriole. 
It is the size of a thrush, and has been called the crolden 
thrush and the witwal. The head and whole body of the male 
is of a rich yellow ; the bill red ; from that to the eye a black 
line: the wings black, marked with a bar ofvellbw, as are 
the ends of the feathers. The tail is black with the end yel- 
low. I he body of the female is a dull green, with dusky 
wings and tail. The nest of this bird is of the shape of a 
purse, and rests upon the outermost twigs of tall trees. It 
is common in France, but has very rarely visited England. 
America however is the country in which these birds are 
found in the greatest variety and the most perfect beauty. 
1 here are in fact upwards of forty species, most of which are 
natives of the New Continent. In Guiano and Brazil, the 
buds or this species take a different method to protect and 
hatch their nascent progeny. A traveller who walks into the 
forests of those countries, among the first strange objects that 
excite curiosity, is struck with the multitude of birds nests 
