76 PILEATED WOODPECKER.
and sides, and rails of the same in front. This was too much for them,
and their only comfort was in passing and holding their bills through the
hard bars. In the morning after receiving water, which they drank
freely, they invariably upset the cup or saucer, and although this was
large and flattish, they regularly turned it quite over. After this they
attacked the trough which contained their food, and soon broke it to
pieces, and when perchance I happened to approach them with my hand,
they made passes at it with their powerful bills with great force. I kept
them in this manner until winter. They were at all times uncleanly and
unsociable birds. On opening the door of my study one morning, one of
them dashed off by me, alighted on an apple-tree near the house, climbed
some distance, and kept watching me from one side and then the other,
as if to ask what my intentions were. I walked into my study:—the
other was hammering at my books. They had broken one of the bars of
the cage, and must have been at liberty for some hours, judging by the
mischief they had done. Fatigued of my pets, I opened the door, and
this last one hearing the voice of his brother, flew towards him and alighted
on the same tree. They remained about half an hour, as if consulting
each other, after which, taking to their wings together, they flew off in a
southern direction, and with much more ease than could have been expected
from birds so long kept in captivity. The ground was covered
with snow, and I never more saw them. No birds of this species even
bred since in the hole spoken of in this instance, and I consider it as much
wilder than the Ivory-billed Woodpecker.''1
While in the Great Pine Forest of Pennsylvania, of which I have repeatedly
spoken, I was surprised to see how differently this bird worked
on the bark of different trees, when searching for its food. On the hemlock
and spruce, for example, of which the bark is difficult to be detached,
it used the bill sideways, hitting the bark in an oblique direction, and
proceeding in close parallel lines, so that when, after a while, a piece of
the bark was loosened and broken off by a side stroke, the surface of the
trunk appeared as if closely grooved by a carpenter using a gouge. In
this manner the Pileated Woodpecker often, in that country, strips the
entire trunks of the largest trees. On the contrary, when it attacked
any other sort of timber, it pelted at the bark in a straightforward manner,
detaching a large piece by a few strokes, and leaving the trunks
smooth, no injury having been inflicted upon it by the bill.
This bird, when surprised, is subject to very singular and astonishing
PILEATED WOODPECKER. 77
fits of terror. While in Louisiana, I have several times crept up to one
occupied in searching for food, on the rotten parts of a low stump only a
few inches from the ground, when, having got so near the tree as almost
to touch it, I have taken my cap and suddenly struck the stump, as if
with the intention of securing the bird ; on which the latter instantly
seemed to lose all power or presence of mind, and fell to the ground as if
dead. On such occasions, if not immediately secured, it soon recovers,
and flies off with more than its usual speed. When surprised when feeding
on a tree, they now and then attempt to save themselves by turning
round the trunk or branches, and do not fly away unless two persons be
present, well knowing, it would seem, that flying is not always a sure
means of escape. If wounded without falling, it mounts at once to the
highest fork of the tree, where it squats and remains in silence. It is
then very difficult to kill it, and sometimes, when shot dead, it clings so
firmly to the bark that it may remain hanging for hours. When winged
and brought to the ground, it cries loudly on the approach of its enemy,
and essays to escape by every means in its power, often inflicting a severe
wound if incautiously seized.
The Pileated Woodpecker is fond of Indian corn, chestnuts, acorns,
fruits of every kind, particularly wild grapes, and insects of all descriptions.
The maize it attacks while yet in its milky state, laying it bare,
like the Redheads or Squirrels. For this reason, it often draws upon itself
the vengeance of the farmer, who, however, is always disposed, without
provocation, to kill the " Woodcock,1'' or " Logcock11 as it is commonly
named by our country people.
The flight of this well known bird is powerful, and, on occasion,
greatly protracted, resembling in all respects that of the Ivory-billed
Woodpecker. Its notes are loud and clear, and the rolling sound produced
by its hammerings, may be heard at the distance of a quarter of a mile.
Its flesh is tough, of a bluish tint, and smells so strongly of the worms and
insects on which it generally feeds, as to be extremely unpalatable. It
almost always breeds in the interior of the forests, and frequently on trees
placed in deep swamps over the water, appearing to give a preference to
the southern side of the tree, on which I have generally found its hole, to
which it retreats during winter or in rainy weather, and which is sometimes
bored perpendicularly, although frequently not, as I have seen some
excavated much in the form of that of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker. Its
usual depth is from twelve to eighteen inches, its breadth from two and a