black. The general colour of the upper parts is dark greyish-brown.
Quills barred with brownish-black. Tail with four bars of brownishblack,
the terminal one broader; the tips of all the feathers white. The
general colour of the lower parts is brownish-white. Sides of the head
and the throat longitudinally lined with dark brown; fore-neck and
breast marked with arrow-shaped spots of brownish-red, the shafts blackish.
Legs similarly marked, the spots smaller, and transversely elongated.
Abdomen and under tail-coverts nearly free of spots.
Length 20 inches, extent of wings 36; beak along the back 1|,
along the gap from the tip of the lower mandible 1J ; tarsus 2§, middle
toe 2£. Wings 4^ inches shorter than the tail.
Adult Female. Plate XXXVI. Fig. 2.
Bill brownish-black above; the base of the upper mandible, and the
greater part of the lower, light blue. Cere greenish. Iris yellow. Feet
greenish-yellow ; claws brownish-black. Head and neck brownish-white,
each feather with a large reddish-brown spot near the end. General
colour of the upper parts chocolate-brown; quills and tail wood-brown,
barred as in the male. Under parts brownish-white. Throat and sides
of the head marked as in the male; breast with guttiform spots of deep
brown; legs with smaller, somewhat arrow-shaped spots of reddishbrown.
Abdomen and under tail-coverts whitish.
Length 21 i inches, extent of wings 38; bill along the back 1\,
along the gap 1 \ ; tarsus 3, middle toe 2f. Wings 5 inches shorter
than the tail.
Young Male. Plate XXXVI. Fig. 1.
Bill and feet coloured nearly as in the adult. Iris yellow, as in the
female. The general colour of the upper parts is dark umber; several of
the scapulars, wing-coverts and upper tail-coverts with a large spot of
white. Quills and tail-feathers barred as in the adult, the last bar on
the tail much narrower. Under parts light reddish-brown. Sides of the
head, and the neck longitudinally streaked with deep brown ; the markings
on the breast and legs also longitudinal.
Length 19f, extent of wings 34; beak l j ; wings 5£ inches shorter
than the tail.
The bird represented as about to be seized by the male is the Bluebird,
Saxicola Sialis of Bonaparte, Sylvia Sialis of other authors.
T H E GOLDEN-WINGED WOODPECKER.
PlCUS AURATUS, LlNN.
P L A T E X X X V I I . MALE AXD FEMALE.
IT is generally agreeable to be in the company of individuals who
are naturally animated and pleasant. For this reason, nothing can be
more gratifying than the society of Woodpeckers in the forests. To
prove this to you, kind reader, I shall give you a full account of the
habits of the Golden-winged Woodpecker.
This species, which is usually called Pique-bois jaune by the French
settlers in Louisiana, and receives the name of High-holder, Yuclcer, and
Flicker in other parts of the Union, being seldom or never graced with
the epithet Golden-winged, employed by naturalists, is one of the most
lively of our birds, and is found over the whole of the United States.
No sooner has spring called them to the pleasant duty of making
love, as it is called, than their voice, which, by the way, is not at all disagreeable
to the ear of man, is heard from the tops of high decayed
trees, proclaiming with delight the opening of the welcome season. Their
note at this period is merriment itself, as it imitates a prolonged and jovial
laugh, heard at a considerable distance. Several males pursue a
female, reach her, and, to prove the force and truth of their love, bow
their heads, spread their tail, and move sidewise, backwards and forwards,
performing such antics, as might induce any one witnessing them,
if not of a most morose temper, to join his laugh to theirs. The female
flies to another tree, where she is closely followed by one, two, or even
half a dozen of these gay suitors, and where again the same ceremonies
are gone through. No fightings occur, no jealousies seem to exist among
these beaux, until a marked preference is shewn to some individual, when
the rejected proceed in search of another female. In this manner all the
Golden-winged Woodpeckers are soon happily mated. Each pair immediately
proceed to excavate the trunk of a tree, and finish a hole in it
sufficient to contain themselves and their young. They both work with
great industry and apparent pleasure. Should the male, for instance, be
employed, the female is close to him,- and congratulates him on the removal
of every chip which his bill sends through the air. While he rests,