. American ornithology, or, The natural history of the birds of the United States [microform]. Wilson, Alexander, 1766-1813; Wilson, Alexander, 1766-1813; Birds; Oiseaux. Ij;fi! '. 166 IVORY-BILLED WOODPECKER. timbered cypress swamps for breeding in. In tlie trunk of .me of thcsb trees, at a considerable beight, tbe male and female alt( inately, and in conjunction, dig out a large and capacious cavity for tbeir eggs and voung. Trees tiius dug out liave fre(|uently been cut down, with some- times the efl'S's and voimi' in thorn. This hole accordin;' to information, for I have never seen one mj'
. American ornithology, or, The natural history of the birds of the United States [microform]. Wilson, Alexander, 1766-1813; Wilson, Alexander, 1766-1813; Birds; Oiseaux. Ij;fi! '. 166 IVORY-BILLED WOODPECKER. timbered cypress swamps for breeding in. In tlie trunk of .me of thcsb trees, at a considerable beight, tbe male and female alt( inately, and in conjunction, dig out a large and capacious cavity for tbeir eggs and voung. Trees tiius dug out liave fre(|uently been cut down, with some- times the efl'S's and voimi' in thorn. This hole accordin;' to information, for I have never seen one mj'self, is generally a liitlc winding, ihe better to keep out the weather, and from two to five feet deej). The eggs are said to be generally four, sometimes five, as large as a pullet's, i)ure white, and eiiually thick at both ends ; a description that, excej)t in size, very nearly agrees with all the rest of our Woodpeckers. The young begin to be seen abroad al>out the middle of June. Wliether they breed more than once in the same season is uncertain. So little attention do the people of the countries where these birds inhabit, pay to the minutiae of natural liistory, that, generally speaking, they make no distinction between the Ivory-billed and I'ileated Wood- pecker. rej)resented in the same jilate ; anil it was not till I showed them the two birds together, that they knew of any diflerence. The more intelligent and observing part of the natives, however, distinguish tlu'm by the name of tht' large and lesser Ijoifcovks. 'I'liey seldctm ex- amine them but at a distanci-, gun])owder being considered too juecious to be thrown away on Woodj)eckers; nothing less than a Turkey being thought worth the value of a load. The food of this bird consists, I lu'lieve, entirely of insects and their larvae. The Pileated Woodpecker is sus])ected of sonu'timcs tasting the Lillian corn ; the Ivory-billeil never. Mis cimnnon note, rej)euted every three or four seconds, very unich resembles
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, booksubjectbirds, booksubjectois
