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THE PILEATED WOODPECKER, 
protracted, resembling in all respects that of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker. 
Its notes are loud and clear, and the rolling sound produced by its hammer- 
ings, may be heard at- the distance of a quarter of a mile. Its flesh is tough, 
of a bluish tint, and smells so strongly of the worms and insects on which 
it generally feeds, as to be extremely unpalatable. It almost always breeds 
in the interior of the forests, and frequently on trees placed in deep swamps 
over the water, appearing to give a preference to the southern side of the 
free, on which I have generally found its hole, to which it retreats during 
winter or in rainy weather, and which is sometimes bored perpendicularly, 
although frequently not, as I have seen some excavated much in the form of 
that of the Ivory -billed Woodpecker. Its usual depth is from twelve to 
eighteen inches, its breadth from two and a half to three, and at the bottom 
sometimes five or six. It rears, I believe, only one brood in a season. The 
young follow their parents for a long time after coming abroad, receive food 
from them, and remain with them until the return of spring. The old birds, 
as well as the young, are fond of retiring at night to their holes, to which 
they return more especially in winter. My young friend, Thomas Lincoln, 
Esq. of the State of Maine, knew of one that seldom removed far from its 
retreat during the whole of the inclement season. 
The observation of many years has convinced me, that Woodpeckers of 
all sorts have the bill longer when just fledged than at any future period of 
their life, and that through use it becomes not only shorter, but also much 
harder, stronger, and sharper. When the W oodpecker first leaves the nest, 
its bill may easily be bent ; six months after, it resists the force of the 
fingers ; and when the bird is twelve months old, the organ has acquired its 
permanent bony hardness. On measuring the bill of a young bird of this 
species not long able to fly, and that of an adult bird, I found the former 
seven-eighths of an inch longer than the latter. This difference I have 
represented in the plate. It is also curious to observe, that the young birds 
of this family, which have the bill tender, either search for larvae in the 
most decayed or rotten stumps and trunks of trees, or hunt the deserted old 
fields, in search of blackberries and other fruits, as if sensible of their inapti- 
tude for attacking the bark of sound trees or the wood itself. 
This handsome species inhabits the Oregon territory about the Columbia 
river, whence 1 have procured specimens from Mr. Townsend. According 
to Dr. Richardson, it is a constant resident in the interior of the Fur 
Countries, up to the 62nd or 63d parallel, rarely appearing near Hudson’s 
Bay, but frequenting the most gloomy recesses of the forests that skirt the 
Rocky Mountains. I found it more abundant in the Texas than any where 
else, and whilst on Galveston Island, saw one tapping against the roof of a 
house, the first and only instance of so much familiarity in a bird of this 
