. Bird-life: a guide to the study of our common birds . etion in judging distances andknowing just when to fly, he would long ago have disap-peared from the haunts of man. We might now be afew fish richer, but would they repay us for the loss ofthis genius of wooded shores ? WOODPECKERS AND WRYNECKS. (ORDEE, PICI.) Woodpeckers. (Family Picid.^.) The three hundred and fifty known ^ species of Wood-peckers are represented in all the wooded parts of theworld except tlie Australian region and one half this number are found in the XewWorld, and of these twenty-five occur in iNorth
. Bird-life: a guide to the study of our common birds . etion in judging distances andknowing just when to fly, he would long ago have disap-peared from the haunts of man. We might now be afew fish richer, but would they repay us for the loss ofthis genius of wooded shores ? WOODPECKERS AND WRYNECKS. (ORDEE, PICI.) Woodpeckers. (Family Picid.^.) The three hundred and fifty known ^ species of Wood-peckers are represented in all the wooded parts of theworld except tlie Australian region and one half this number are found in the XewWorld, and of these twenty-five occur in iNorth America. Few birds seem better adapted to their mode of lifethan Woodpeckers, the structure of their bill, tongue,tail, and feet being admiralily suited to their needs. The notes f AVoodpeckers can not be termed musical,and their cliief contribution to the springtime chorus is arolling tattoo which resembles the k-r-r-i-rhig call of thetree frngs. The feathered drummer selects a resonanthmb and pounds out his song with a series of strokes de-. Plate XL. Page 137. CO WEIRD. Length, 7-90 inches. Male, head and neck all arpund dark coffee-brown;rest of plumage glossy greenish black. Female, dirty bro%Ymsh gray;throat whitish. WOODPECKERS. 115 livered so quickly that his head becomes a series of mazyheads. Watch the Downy Woodpecker, our commonestspecies, while he is engaged in this surprising perform-Downy Woodpecker, ^^^®- How he seems to enjoy it! HisDryobatespubescens whole appearance is martial and defi-mediaiiNs. ant. It is his challenge to the Wood-pecker world. After each roll he looksproudly about him and perhaps utters his call-note, asharp 2)eeh, peek, which suggests the Sound produced bya marble cutters chisel. More rarely this call is pro-longed into a connected series, when one can readilyimagine that the quarrier has dropped his tool. The Downy is a hardy bird and is with its throughoutthe year. In the winter he forms a partnership witli theChickadee and J^uthateh,
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