GOLD-WINGED WOODPECKER. 
51 
to that bird, who, while other tribes are exposed to all the 
peltings of the midnight storm, lodges dry and secure in a 
snug chamber of his own constructing ? or that 66 the narrow 
circumference of a tree circumscribes his dull round of life,” 
who, as seasons and inclination inspire, roams from the frigid 
to the torrid zone, feasting on the abundance of various 
regions ? Or is it a proof that “ his appetite is never softened 
by delicacy of taste,” because he so often varies his bill of fare, 
occasionally preferring to animal food the rich milkiness of 
young Indian corn, and the wholesome and nourishing berries 
of the wild cherry, sour gum, and red cedar ? Let the reader 
turn to the faithful representation of him given in the plate, 
and say whether his looks be cc sad and melancholy.” It is 
truly ridiculous and astonishing that such absurdities should 
escape the lips or pen of one so able to do justice to the respec- 
tive merits of every species ; but Buffon had too often a favourite 
theory to prop up, that led him insensibly astray ; and so, 
forsooth, the whole family of Woodpeckers must look sad, 
sour, and be miserable, to satisfy the caprice of a whimsical 
philosopher, who takes it into his head that they are, and 
ought to be so ! 
But the Count is not the only European who has mis- 
represented and traduced this beautiful bird. One has given 
him brown legs ;* another a yellow neck ;f a third has declared 
him a Cuckoo ; if and, in an English translation of Linnaeus’s 
System of Nature , lately published, he is characterized as 
follows : 66 Body, striated with black and gray ; cheeks, red ; 
chin, black; never climbs on trees ; ” § which is just as correct 
as if, in describing the human species, we should say, — Skin, 
striped with black and green ; cheeks, blue ; chin, orange ; 
never walks on foot, &c. The pages of natural history should 
resemble a faithful mirror, in which mankind may recognize 
the true images of the living originals ; instead of which, we 
* See Encyc. Brit. art. Picus. f Latham. | Klein. 
§ P. griseo nigroque transversim striatus truncos arborum non 
scandit Iiid. Om. vol. i. p. 242. 
