44 
GOLD- WINGED WOODPECKER. 
Indian corn, or the trifle he will bring in market ; and the 
latter for the mere pleasure of destruction, and perhaps for 
the flavour of his flesh, which is in general esteem. In 
the State of Pennsylvania, he can scarcely be called a bird of 
passage, as, even in severe winters, they may be found within 
a few miles of the city of Philadelphia ; and I have known 
them exposed for sale in market every week during the 
months of November, December, and January, and that, too, 
in more than commonly rigorous weather. They no doubt, 
however partially, migrate even here; being much more 
numerous in spring and fall, than in winter. Early in the 
month of April, they begin to prepare their nest, which is 
built in the hollow body or branch of a tree, sometimes, 
though not always, at a considerable height from the ground ; 
for I have frequently known them fix on the trunk of an old 
apple tree, at not more than six feet from the root. The 
sagacity of this bird in discovering, under a sound bark, a 
hollow limb or trunk of a tree, and its perseverance in per- 
forating it for the purpose of incubation, are truly surprising ; 
golden-winged woodpecker is known to feed a great deal upon ants, seeking them 
about the hills, and, according to Mr Audubon, also picks up grains and seed from 
the ground. In a Brasilian species, Picus campestris of Spix and Martius, 
we have analogous habits ; and, as the name implies, it is often seen upon the 
ground, frequenting the ordure of cattle, and turning it over in search of 
insects ; or in the neighbourhood of ant hills, where they find an abundant and 
very favourite food. We find also the general development of form joined to 
habit, in the typical form of another group, the common green and gray-headed 
woodpeckers of Europe, which feed much on ants, and of course seek them on 
the ground. 
Mon. Lesson, in his Manual d' Ornithologie, has given it the title of Cucupicus , 
making the African species typical. He of course was not aware of its having 
been previously characterized ; and in that of America, all the forms are more 
clearly developed. 
The C. Mexicanus mentioned before, was met with in the last overland 
expedition, and will form an addition to the North American species : it 
was killed by Mr David Douglas to the westward of the Rocky Mountains. 
The more common country is Mexico, whence it extends along the shores 
of the Pacific, some distance northward of the Columbia River, and to New 
California Ed. 
