superior to the common herd of woodpeckers. The royal hunter before us, scorns the humility of searching for prey in trees, shrubbery, orchards, rails, and old prostrate logs, and seeks the most towering trees of the forest; seeming particularly attached to those prodigious cypress swamps, whose crowded giant sons stretch their bare and blasted, or moss-hung arms midway to the skies. In these almost impenetrable recesses, amid ruinous piles of decaying timber, his trumpet-like note and loud strokes resound through the solitary savage wilds, of which he seems the sole lord and inhabitant. Wherever he frequents, he leaves numerous monuments of his industry behind him. We there see enormous pine trees with cart-loads of bark lying around their roots, and chips of the trunk itself in such quantities as to suggest the idea that half a dozen axe-men had been at work there the whole morning. But examine the tree closely where he has been at work, and you will soon perceive, that it is neither for amusement nor mischief that he slices off the bark, or digs his way into the trunk. The sound and healthy tree is not the least object of his attention. The diseased, infested with insects and hastening to putrefaction, are his favorites; there the deadly crawling enemy have formed a lodgment between the bark and tender wood, to drink up the very vital part of the tree.

This bird is not migratory: it breeds in the Carolinas, and builds a large and capacious nest in a cypress tree. It is called by the natives the large Logcock. Its food consists entirely of insects and larvæ. Its common note, repeated every three or four seconds, very much resembles the tone of a trumpet, seeming to be near at hand, though perhaps one hundred yards off. This it utters while mounting along the trunk, or digging into it. At these times it has a stately and novel appearance, and his note instantly attracts the notice of a stranger.

The ivory-billed woodpecker is twenty inches long; the general color is black, glossed with green; fore part of the head black; the rest of the crest of a most splendid red, spotted at the bottom with white; the beak is of the color and consistence of ivory, prodigiously strong, and elegantly fluted.

THE PILEATED WOODPECKERI

Is the next in size, and may be styled the great northern chief, though his range extends from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, over the whole range of the United States. In Pennsylvania and the northern states he is called the black woodcock; in the southern states, the lesser logcock. He is very numerous in all the tracts of high timbered forests, in the neighborhood of large rivers, where he is noted for making a loud and incessant cackling be

1 Picus pileatus, LIN.

fore wet weather, making the woods echo to his outcry. Almost every trunk in the forests bears the marks of his chisel. Whether engaged in digging, flying, or climbing, he seems perpetually in a hurry. He is extremely hard to kill, clinging close to the tree after he has received his mortal wound; nor yielding up his hold but with his expiring breath. He can rarely be reconciled to confinement.

This bird is not migratory, but bears the extremes of both the arctic and torrid regions. Neither is he gregarious, for it is rare to see more than one or two in company. Their nest is built in the hole of a tree, dug out by themselves it is eighteen inches long; the general color is a dusky brownish black; the head is ornamented with a conical cap of bright scarlet; the chin is white, with two scarlet mustaches; the upper part of the wings is white, the lower part black, but the white is never seen except when the bird is flying.

THE YELLOW-BELLIED WOODPECKER'

Is one of our resident birds. It visits our orchards in the fall in great numbers, and is occasionally seen during the whole winter and spring; but seems to seek the depths of the forest to rear its young in; for during the summer it is rarely seen. It inhabits the continent from Cayenne to Virginia. They are common in Kentucky and Ohio, and have been seen near St. Louis. The only nest of this bird which I have met with was in the body of an old pear tree. The hole was almost exactly circular, small for the size of the bird, so that he crept in and out with difficulty; but suddenly widened by a small angle, and then running downwards about fifteen inches. On the smooth solid wood were four eggs. The principal food of these birds is insects; and they seem particularly fond of frequenting orchards, boring the trunks of the apple trees in their eager search for them. In the morning they are extremely active. Their cry cannot be described by words.

THE HAIRY WOODPECKER 2

Is, like the former, a haunter of orchards, and borer of apple trees, an eager hunter of insects in old stumps and rails, and rotten branches and crevices of the bark. In the spring, he retires into the woods and seeks out a branch already hollow, or cuts out an opening for himself. In the latter case he digs horizontally first, and then downwards, carrying up the chips with his bill, and scraping them out with his feet. They sometimes breed in an Picus villosus, LIN.

1 Picus varius, WILSON.

orchard, or dig a hole in an old stake of a fence. They frequently approach the farmhouses and skirts of the town. In Philadelphia, they frequent the old willow and poplar trees. Their cry is strong, shrill, and tremulous; they have also a single note or chuck, which they often repeat in an eager manner as they hop about and dig in the crevices of the trees. They inhabit the continent from Hudson's Bay to Carolina and Georgia. This bird is nine inches long; the hind head is scarlet mixed with black; under the bill are long hairs thrown forwards and upwards. The back is black, divided by a strip of white, the feathers of which resemble hairs; wings black, spotted with white, the under parts are pure white. The great mass of hairs that cover the nostril appears to be designed as a protection to the front of the head, when the bird is engaged in digging holes in the wood. In flight these birds sink and rise alternately, uttering a loud tremulous scream as they set off and alight. They are hard to kill.

THE DOWNY WOODPECKER'

Is the smallest of all, and exactly resembles the former in tints and markings, and in almost every thing but its diminutive size. Its principal characteristics are diligence, familiarity, and a strength and energy in the head and neck, which are truly astonishing. Mounted on the infected branch of an old apple tree, where insects have lodged between the bark and the wood, he labors sometimes for half an hour incessantly at the same spot, till he has succeeded in dislodging them. At these times you may walk pretty close to the tree without in the least embarrassing him: the strokes of his bill are distinctly heard several hundred yards off; and I have known him to work for two hours together on one tree. He has a single note or chink, which he frequently repeats: and when he flies off, he utters a rather shriller cry, quickly reiterated. Of all our woodpeckers, none rid the appletrees of so many vermin as this; digging off the moss, and probing every crevice. His industry is unequalled, and almost incessant.

THE RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER2

POSSESSES all the restless and noisy habits of its tribe. It is more shy than the red-headed one. It is also more solitary. It prefers the largest, hightimbered woods and tallest decayed timbers of the forest; seldom appearing near the ground, on the fences, or in orchards; yet where the trees have been deadened in fields of Indian corn, it is pretty numerous, and it feeds

1 Picus pubescens, LIN.

2 Picus Carolinus, LIN.

eagerly on that grain. Its voice is hoarser than any of the others; and its usual note, chow, has often reminded me of the barking of a little lapdog. It is a most expert climber, possessing extraordinary strength in the muscles of its feet and claws, and moves about the body and horizontal limbs of the trees with equal facility in all directions. It rattles like the rest of its tribe on the dead limbs with such violence, as to be heard in still weather for more than half a mile; and listens to hear the insects it has alarmed. It digs its nest in the lower side of some lofty branch, the male and female working together.

This bird is ten inches in length. The upper part of the head, neck, and back are of a brilliant, golden, glossy red; the breast is ash, and the belly bloody red. The back is black, crossed with bars of white. It inhabits a large extent of country.

THE GOLDEN-WINGED WOODPECKER1

Is well known to our farmers and junior sportsmen, who take every opportunity of destroying him; the former, for the supposed trespasses he commits on their Indian corn, or the trifle he will bring in market; and the latter, for the mere pleasure of destruction, and perhaps for the flavor of his flesh, which is in general esteem. Early in April these elegant birds begin to prepare their nests, which is built in the hollow body or branch of a tree, sometimes in an old apple tree. The male and female work together, and encourage each other by mutual caresses. They employ themselves in hollowing the tree for several days, and may even be heard late in the evening,

1 Picus auratus, LIN.

thumping like carpenters. They carry in no materials for their nest. Their food varies with the season. As the common cherries, wild cherries, and berries of the sour gum ripen, he regales plentifully on them; but his chief food is wood-lice and the young and larvæ of ants. He is very fond of corn, and visits the farmer's grounds too frequently to remain unpunished, as the farmer destroys him on every opportunity.

This bird has the back and wings of a burnt umber, marked with streaks of black; the breast is ornamented with a broad crescent of deep black; the belly is light yellow, spotted with innumerable round spots of black; the inner side of the wings and tail are of a beautiful golden yellow. They inhabit America from Hudson's Bay to Georgia, and have been found on the North-West coast. They arrive at Hudson's Bay in the spring.

ORDER VI. ANISODACTYLI.

BIRDS of this order have the bill more or less arched, often straight, always subulate and slender; feet with three toes before and one behind, the exterior united at the base to that in the middle, the hinder one generally long, and all provided with long and bent claws.

WEIGHS near an ounce, and is five inches and three quarters in length. The bill is strong and straight, and three fourths of an inch long. The upper part of the plumage is of a fine bluish gray; a black stroke runs from the mouth to the eye. The cheeks are white, and the breast and belly of a dull orange color. This bird runs up and down the bodies of trees like the woodpecker. It feeds on insects and nuts, which it stores in the hollow parts of the tree. It is a pretty sight, says Willoughby, to see her fetch a nut out

1 Sitta Europea, LIN. The genus Sitta has the bill straight, cylindrical, slightly compressed, tip acuminated, nostrils basal, rounded, partly concealed by reflected bristles; tongue short, horny; three toes before, the exterior joined at its base to the middle one; hind toe very long, with a long hooked claw; tail composed of twelve feathers.