134 
PICUS PRINCIPALIS. 
the whole woods, as far as you can see around you, •i’'® 
dead, stripped of the bark, their wintry-lookinp' arn>® 
and hare trunks bleaching in the sun, and tumbling i" 
ruins before every l)last, presenting a frightful pictut® 
of desolation. And yet ignorance and prejudice stub" 
bornly persist in directing- their indignation against 
bird now before us, the constant and mortal enemy o* 
these very vermin, as if the hand that probed fl*® 
wound to extract its c.iuse, should be cf|ually deteste® 
with that which inflicted it ; or as if the thief-catche'' 
should be confounded with the thief. Until soiu® 
efFoctual preventive or more complete mode of destru^ 
tion can he devised against these insects, and tliek 
laiwa', I would humbly suggest the |)ropriety of pi"®* 
tecting-, and receiving with pro])er feelings of gratitud®> 
the services of this and the whole tribe of n oodpecker®i 
letting the odium of guilt fall to its proper owners. 
In looking over the accounts given of the itnOj 
billed woodpecker by the naturalists of Europe, I d®® 
it asserted, that it inhabits from New Jersey to Mexi®®' 
I believe, however, that few of them are ever seen 
the north of Vii-giuia, and vej-y few of them even 
that state. The first place 1 observed this bird 3*’ 
when on my ivay to the south, n as about tw elve mil®* 
north of Wilmington in North Carolina. Haviu? 
w’ounded it slightly iu the wing, on being caught, 
uttered a loudly reiterated, and most piteous m’l®’ 
exactly resembling the violent crying of a young cliiidi 
which terrified my horse so, as m-arly to have cost m,® 
my life. It was distressing to hear it. I carried >*- 
with me iu the chair, under cover, to Wilmington, 
passing through the streets, its affecting cries surju'is®" 
every one within hearing, particularly the females, u’b® 
hurried to the doors and windows with looks of iilarb* 
and anxiety. I drove on, and, on arriving at the pia*** 
of the hotel, where I intended to put up, the landl<)''“ 
came forward, and a number of other persons "d® 
happened to be there, all equally alarmed at w hat they 
he.ard ; this was greatly increased by my asking, whetb®®. 
he could furnish me with accommodations for mys®** 
