PsiTTACID®. BIRDS. STRIGIDiE. 
again the same ceremonies are gone through. No 
fightings occur ; no jealousies seem to exist among 
these beaux, until a marked preference is sliovvn to 
some individual, when the rejected proceed in search 
of another female. In this manner all the Golden- 
winged Woodpeckers are soon happily mated. Each 
pair immediately proceeds to excavate the trunk of 
a tree, and finish a hole in it sufficient to contain 
themselves and young. They both work with great 
industry and apparent pleasure. 'I’he hole is often 
twenty inches in depth, and is not unfrequently in 
the solid wood. 'J’hougli they are provided with 
stout, sharp bills, it is difficult to realize the fact that 
such wonderful work can be accomplished by them.” 
Wilson mentions a feat which shows remarkable sagac- 
ity in this bird. He has known it to detect the hol- 
low of a limb under the solid and sound exterior, and 
pierce it for the purpose of building its nest there. 
RED-SHAFTED WOODPECKER [G. mexicanus).— 
This bird, closely resembling the last-named, is con- 
fined to the Pacific Coast. Dr. Newberry found it 
abundant in California and Oregon, and considers it 
as resembling the Golden Flicker in its habits, but 
is much shyer. Dr. Cones states that its tongue is 
capable of protrusion to an extent far beyond that 
of any other North American Woodpecker. 
HYBRID FLICKER {C. hyh'idus).—' I \us is found 
on the Upi)er Missouri and the Yellowstone, and in 
the Black Hills. It is considered a hybrid, result- 
ing from the breeding of two different species. 
THE CAPE FLICKER [G. chrysoides). — Found on 
the Colorado and Gila Rivers, and as far south as 
Cape St. Lucas. It is considered as intermediate 
between the C. auratus and mexicanus, and has the 
same habits, flight and cries as the latter. It ap- 
pears to be migratory, and comes from the south. 
The eggs are like those of mexicanus. 
Family— PSITTACIDiB. 
The Parrots. 
Of the few species of the Parrot family repre- 
sented in the New World, one of the sub-family 
Psittaeince is fotind in the United States. Of the 
genus Psittace, which embraces eighteen species, two 
come sufficiently near to the southern borders of the 
United States to render it possible that they may yet 
be found to cross the border. Audubon shot, on the 
Rio Grande of 'I'exas, the S. pachyrhyncha, and the 
S. militaris is common at Mazatlan. 
PARAKEET; CAROLINA PARROT {Gonurus caro- 
linensis). — The habitat of this bird is the Southern 
and South-western States, and Mississippi Valley. It 
was once very abundant in the United States, east 
of the Rocky Mountains, even as far as Pennsylvania. 
In Florida they are yet abundant. Wilson says : 
“At Big Bone Lick, thirty miles above the mouth of 
the Kentucky River, I saw them in great numbers. 
They came screaming through the woods in the 
morning, about an hour after sunrise, to driidc the 
salt water, of which they, as well as the pigeons, are 
i-emarkably fond. When they alighted on the ground, 
it appeared at a distance as if covered with a carpet 
clxT 
of the richest green, orange and yellow ; they after- 
wards settled in one body on a neighboring tree, 
which stood detached from any other, covering al- 
most every twig of it, and the sun, shining strongly 
on their gay j)lumage, produced a very beautiful and 
splendid appearance. Here I had an opportunity of 
observing some veiy peculiar traits of their character. 
Having shot down a number, some of them were 
only wounded. 'I'he whole flock swept repeatedly 
around their prostrate compaiuons, and again settled 
on a low tree, within twenty yards of the s|)ot where 
I stood. At each successive discharge, though 
showers of them fell, yet the affection of the surviv- 
ors seemed rather to increase; for after a few circuits 
around the jilace, they again alighted near me, look- 
ing down on their slaughtered companions with such 
manifest symptoms of sympathy and concern as en- 
tirely disarmed me. 'I’hey fly very much like the Wild 
Pigeon, in close, compact bodies, and with great ra- 
pidity, making a loud and outrageous screaming, 
not unlike that of the Red headed Woodpecker.” 
This bird is sometimes called the Illinois Parrot. 
It is thirteen inches long, and twenty-one in e.xtent 
of wings. The species seems to be the only one that 
is found so far North. Wilson speaks of seeing them 
in the month of February along the baidis of the 
Ohio, in a snow storm, flying about like Pigeons, and 
in full cry. 'I'lieir food is usually nuts and seeds ; 
the cockle burr being a favorite item. 
Family— STRIGIDAH. 
'I’he Owls. 
AMERICAN BARN OWL [Strix flammed). — This 
Owl is common to the more southern portion of 
North America, especially near the sea-coast, in 
Mexico and California. It is very rarely seen north 
of Pennsylvania, though it has been found, as a 
straggler, in New England. Dr. Heerman speaks 
of it as very abundant in California before the 
settlement by eastern immigration. These birds are 
still abundant in the old Catholic missions, where 
they frequent the ruined walls and towers, and con- 
struct their nests in the crevices and nooks of those 
once stately buildings, now fallen to decay. 'I'hese 
ruins are also a shelter for innumerable bats, reptiles 
and vermin, which form an additional attraction to 
the Owls. A favorite morsel of food of the Barn 
Owl is the meadow mouse ; and the bats also consti- 
tute an important item in its diet. 'The female 
is fifteen and a half inches in length, and three feet 
eight inches in extent of wing. S. furcata, a s|)ecies 
found in the West Indies, is hardly distinguish- 
able from the present one, and its habits are sup- 
posed to be the same. 
LONG-EARED OWL [Otus vulgaris) — Plate 4, fig. 
10. — 'I’his is a common species in New England, and 
is found pretty equally distributed over the whole 
of temperate North America. It is entirely noc- 
turnal in its habits, and is considered to hare less 
power of vision by day than any other species. It 
is the most numerous of any other American species. 
Except in size, it has more resemblance to the Great 
