HAIRY WOODPECKER. 
157 
prevent any bad effects from violent concussion while the bird 
is employed in digging for food. The female wants the red 
on the hind head ; and the white below is tinged with 
brownish. The manner of flight of these birds has been 
already described under a former species, as consisting of 
alternate risings and sinkings. The Hairy Woodpeckers gene- 
rally utter a loud tremulous scream as they set off, and when 
they alight. They are hard to kill ; and, like the Red-headed 
Woodpecker, hang by the claws, even of a single foot, as 
long as a spark of life remains, before they drop. 
This species is common at Hudson’s Bay ; and has lately 
been found in England.* Dr Latham examined a pair which 
were shot near Halifax, in Yorkshire ; and, on comparing the 
male with one brought from North America, could perceive 
no difference, but in a slight interruption of the red that 
marked the hind head of the former ; a circumstance which I 
have frequently observed in our own. The two females 
corresponded exactly. 
* This, I believe, is a mistake ; and although this bird is beginning to creep 
into our fauna in the rank of an occasional visitant, I can find no authentic 
trace of the Hairy Woodpecker being ever killed in Great Britain. It is a 
bird belonging to a northern climate ; and although it closely resembles a 
native species, it can never be mistaken, with any ordinary examination or 
comparison. The Halifax in Yorkshire will turn out in reality the Halifax 
of the New World. — Ed. 
