Part 5

"This bird," writes Jerdon, "is found throughout the Himalayas, from whence it descends in winter to the Alpine parts of the Punjab. It is also found in Cashmere, Afghanistan, and the southern parts of Europe. I saw it frequently near Darjeeling, but only in the winter, at a height of from 2,500 to 5,000 feet or so. I first met with it in a tea plantation at Kursim, hunting along some small, bare ravines that the heat of the sun had made in the ground, and occasionally on the bank of a road. I have also seen it on a rock by the wayside, and on perpendicular cliffs along some of the rivers. It looks very beautiful when flitting about, the fine red on its wings fully displayed; and, indeed, has the appearance rather of a butterfly than a bird. Such specimens as I have examined had eaten spiders and coleoptera." This species has no call-note. In Europe it descends from the Alps, and is found on walls of old buildings, whence the name given by Linnæus. It is stated to breed in clefts and holes of rocks, and in old buildings. The eggs, we are told, are of a fine bright red.

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The smallest of the Climbing Birds may be conveniently divided into two groups, the TREE CREEPERS and TREE PECKERS.

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The TRUE TREE CREEPERS (_Certhia_) are very small and slender, with delicate, sharply-pointed beaks, more or less curved, weak feet, and long toes, armed with large, hooked, and sharp claws. The wings, of which the third or fourth quills exceed the rest in length, are blunt, and formed of weak feathers; the long, narrow, conical tail is divided into two points at its tip, and formed of strong feathers; the lax, soft plumage is of a brownish hue above, and white beneath; the horny tongue has a sharp margin, the tip is thread-like, and the base is furnished with tooth-like appendages. These birds principally inhabit the Eastern Hemisphere and North America.

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The TREE PECKERS are more powerfully formed than the above-mentioned birds. Their beak is comparatively long, more or less curved, and very sharply pointed at its tip; the feet are short, the toes long, armed with high, sharp, and much-curved claws; the wing, in which the third or fourth quill is the longest, is pointed; the long, stiff tail usually terminates in two points; the plumage is of a uniform tint on the back, but variegated on the under side; the tongue is horny at its tip.

The above groups resemble each other so closely in their habits that one description will suffice for them both; and, to avoid confusion, we shall combine them under the general name of--

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TREE CLIMBERS (_Scandentes_). The Tree Climbers pass their time within the shelter of their native woods, keeping together in pairs or families; some species, however, associate with other birds, and in their company make short excursions within the boundaries of their forest home. Insects, eggs, larvæ, spiders, and similar fare constitute their principal means of support. In search of these the larger species bore the bark of trees after the manner of the Woodpecker, while the weaker members of the group obtain a meal by exploring holes and crannies in the trunks and branches by the aid of their sharp beaks. The voices of all are insignificant, and their habits generally quiet and unsocial. Almost all build a large nest within the shelter of a tree-hole.

THE COMMON TREE CREEPER.

The COMMON TREE CREEPER (_Certhia familiaris_) is of a deep grey, spotted with white, the under side being entirely of pure white; the bridles and rump are brownish grey, the latter shaded with yellowish red; a white stripe passes over the eyes. The quills are deep brownish grey, and all except the first are tipped with white, and have a whitish yellow line across the centre; the tail-feathers are brownish grey, those at the exterior edged with light yellow. The eye is dark brown, the upper mandible black, and the lower portion of the beak reddish grey, as is the foot. The length of this species is five, and its breadth seven inches; the wing measures two inches and one-third, and the tail two inches and one-sixth.

The Common Tree Creeper is an inhabitant of the woodland districts and orchards of Europe and Siberia, and is frequently found at a considerable elevation on such mountains as are not entirely destitute of trees. Like other members of its family, it remains within a certain limited tract during the breeding season, and after that period wanders over the surrounding country in company with Titmice, Woodpeckers, and other birds. Its flight is rapid, but unsteady; and during the greater part of the year it is restricted to the slight effort required to pass from one tree to another. Upon the ground its movements are extremely awkward; it is only among the branches that it displays the wonderful activity of which it is capable. Its cry closely resembles that of the Golden-crested Wren. Towards man it exhibits the utmost friendliness, and frequently ventures close to his dwellings, or even occasionally makes its nest within some tempting hole in an old house or wall.

During the summer the temperament of the Tree Creeper is joyous and brisk, but wintry weather soon renders it dull and uneasy. No doubt this very visible discomfort arises in some measure from the impossibility of keeping its feathers in the neat, trim state in which it delights at other seasons of the year.

Holes and fissures are usually employed by this species, both for building purposes and as sleeping places. The nest, which varies considerably in size, is formed of dry twigs, grass, leaves, straw, or bark, woven together with spiders' webs, and lined with feathers and fibres of various kinds. The chamber of the young is round and deep, and so compactly and neatly finished off as to render it a real work of art. The brood consists of eight or nine white eggs, spotted with red, and deceptively like those of the Titmouse. Both parents assist in the labour of incubation, and feed their hungry family with great devotion. The young usually remain for a long time in the nest, but if alarmed will scramble out, and hurry along the branches to some safe retreat, even before they are fully fledged. The female lays twice during the summer, the first time about April, and again in June. The second brood rarely consists of more than from three to five eggs.

THE SABRE-BILL.

The SABRE-BILL (_Xiphorhynchus trochilirostris_) is readily known by its unusually long, slender, sickle-shaped beak, and short tail. The wings, in which the fourth quill is the longest, are also comparatively short, and the legs are slender. The tongue is short, and broad at its tip. The plumage is of a dull olive-brown, streaked with yellowish white on the head, throat, and breast; the wings and tail are deep reddish brown; the eye is brown, the beak reddish brown, and the foot of a dull brownish hue. This species is nine inches and a half long, and eleven and a quarter broad; the wing measures three inches and three-quarters, the tail three inches and a quarter, and the beak two inches and one-third.

"I found this strange bird," says the Prince von Wied, "in the vast, unbroken forests that extend from Ilheos to Bahia, where it lives in pairs upon the trees from which it gathers the insects and beetles upon which it subsists."

THE WOODPECKER TREE-CHOPPER.

The WOODPECKER TREE-CHOPPER (_Dendroplex picus_) is recognisable by its straight, pointed beak, which is much compressed at its sides, and furnished with a high sharp ridge at its culmen. The wing is comparatively short, the tail long, and the foot large. The plumage is entirely of a reddish brown, the feathers on the head, throat, and breast being enlivened by broad white patches, surrounded by a greyish brown margin. This bird is eight inches long; the wing measures four and the tail three inches.

The _Dendroplex picus_ is found over almost the whole of South America, and everywhere frequents the primitive forests, obtaining its food from the bark of trees, after the manner of the True Woodpeckers. At the conclusion of the breeding season it quits its native fastnesses with its companions, and ventures freely down, even near the abode of man. The voice is clear, but confined to one note. The eggs are laid in the holes of trees.

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The WOODPECKERS (_Picida_), the last group of the tree-climbing races, possess a slender body and powerful peak, which is usually straight, conical, and furnished with a sharp ridge at its culmen. The short, strong feet turn inwards; the toes are long, and placed in pairs, the exterior pair being connected as far as the first joint; the hinder toe, which is the smallest of all, is so situated as to pair with the innermost and longest toe; in some instances this short fourth toe is but slightly developed, or entirely wanting; the claws are long, strong, very sharp, and much hooked. The wings are rounded, and of medium size; their ten primaries are narrow and pointed, whilst the secondaries (from nine to ten in number) are broader, but not much shorter, than the primary quills. Of these latter, the first is very small, those next in order graduated to the third or fourth, which is the longest. The very remarkable tail is formed of ten large and two small feathers. These latter are placed above instead of under the rest; the centre tail-feathers are the largest, and very stiff. The strangely constructed tongue, by the aid of which the Woodpeckers are enabled to capture the small insects upon which they in a great measure subsist, is sharp, barbed, pointed, and endued with a glutinous secretion, derived from glands situated in the throat, and communicating with the mouth by two long ducts, the glutinous coating being thus renewed every time the tongue is drawn within the bill. The plumage of these birds is thick; the feathers on the head (which in some species form a crest) are small and slender, whilst those on the hinder parts of the body are short and broad. The Woodpeckers inhabit the woods and forests of both hemispheres, and are especially numerous in warm latitudes. Fruits, seeds, and insects constitute their food, and in pursuit of the latter they exhibit wonderful dexterity--climbing with astonishing activity upon the trunks and branches of trees; and when, by tapping with their bills, a rotten place has been discovered, they dig at once vigorously in search of the grub or larvæ snugly embedded beneath the bark--thus rendering inestimable service to man, by destroying hosts of insects.

The Woodpeckers both roost and breed in hollow trunks, or holes in trees, enlarged to the requisite size by the aid of their strong, sharp mandibles. The eggs, which are smooth, glossy, and white, vary considerably in number; they are deposited upon a bed of chips, or _débris_, placed at the bottom of the hole selected for their reception.

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The BLACK WOODPECKERS (_Dryocopus_) comprise the largest and most powerful of the race, and are at once recognisable by the crest that adorns their head, and the prevalence of black in the coloration of their plumage. America must be regarded as the central home of these birds, as there several kinds inhabit every latitude; whilst, in the Eastern Hemisphere, but one species is met with in Europe, and few are found even in India.

THE EUROPEAN BLACK WOODPECKER.

The EUROPEAN BLACK WOODPECKER (_Dryocopus martius_) has the plumage of a uniform black, with the exception of the top of the head, which is of a bright crimson; in the female the bright feathers are limited to a small patch at the back of the head. The eye of both sexes is pale yellow, the beak pearl-grey, tipped with blueish grey, and the foot lead-colour. The young closely resemble the adult birds. This species is from seventeen to eighteen inches long, and twenty-eight to twenty-nine broad. The wing, in which the fifth quill is the longest, covers two-thirds of the tail, which measures from six inches to six inches and a half; the tarsus is almost entirely covered with feathers, and exceeds the centre toe and claw in length. The strong beak is broader than it is high, and straight at its culmen.

Although all the wooded tracts of Europe, from sixty-eight degrees north latitude as far as Greece and Spain, are inhabited by the Black Woodpecker, it is seldom met with in England, and is but rarely seen in Holland. It also frequents Asia, as far as the northern side of the Himalayas. Everywhere fir and pine forests are its favourite resorts, even when these extend over mountain ranges; indeed, it rarely visits tracts covered with any other description of trees, except during its wanderings from one place to another. Like all other European Woodpeckers, this species does not migrate, and but rarely travels to any great distance from its native haunts.

The Black Woodpecker is shy and retiring in its habits, and, if approached, studiously conceals itself from observation by creeping round the tree or branch on which it happens to be at work. Its food is obtained by perforating the bark or searching the fissures of trees, a process which it performs with great dexterity, the tail being habitually employed as a means of support whilst climbing. The night is passed in holes in the trunk of some old tree; and in a cavity of this description the glossy white eggs are also deposited. We learn from Temminck that the Black Woodpecker lays three eggs; and that when other food is scarce it will eat seeds or berries. Its voice somewhat resembles a harsh, loud laugh.

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The GIANT WOODPECKERS (_Campephilus_), a group comprising the largest members of the family, inhabit America. These birds are characterised by their powerful body, large head, and long, thin neck. Their beak is long, straight, and strongly formed; their feet muscular, and the tarsi unfeathered. Of the toes, the outermost of the hinder pair exceeds the rest in length. The wings and tail are long, the third and fourth quills of the former being the longest. The plumage is black, marked with white. The feathers on the head form a crest, which in the male is of considerable size, and of a red colour.

Two species of Giant Woodpeckers are worthy of special notice, named respectively the IMPERIAL and the IVORY-BILLED WOODPECKERS.

THE IMPERIAL WOODPECKER.

The IMPERIAL WOODPECKER (_Campephilus imperialis_) is almost entirely black. A stripe on the shoulders, the tip of the hinder quill, and the lower wing-covers are white, the latter spotted with black on the exterior edge; the crest of the male is scarlet, and that of the female black. This species is above twenty-five inches long; the wing measures twelve and the tail nine inches.

THE IVORY-BILLED WOODPECKER.

The IVORY-BILLED WOODPECKER (_Campephilus principalis_) is also black; and the centre as well as the hinder quills are white; the lower wing-covers are striped with black; and the white lines on the shoulder extend to the sides of the head. The eye is bright yellow, the beak as white as ivory, and the foot greyish blue. This bird is twenty-one inches long, and thirty broad; the wing measures ten inches and a half, and the tail seven inches and a quarter.

The Imperial Woodpecker inhabits the mountain tracts of California, as far as the boundaries of Mexico, whilst the Ivory-beak frequents the forests that extend along the Mississippi to the Ohio. We are but little acquainted with the habits of the first-mentioned bird, but are indebted to Audubon for a most graphic description of the life and habits of the Ivory-beak.

"The Ivory-billed Woodpecker," says that writer, "confines its rambles to a comparatively small portion of the United States. Descending to the Ohio, we met with this splendid bird for the first time near the confluence of that river and the Mississippi; after which, following the windings of the latter, either towards the sea or in the direction of the Missouri, we frequently observe it. On the Atlantic coast, North Carolina may be taken as the limit of its distribution, though individuals are occasionally seen in Maryland. To the west of the Mississippi it is found in all the dense forests bordering the streams which empty their waters into that majestic river, from the very declivities of the Rocky Mountains. The lower part of the Carolinas, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi are, however, the favourite resorts of this bird; and in these States it constantly resides, breeds, and passes a life of peaceful enjoyment, finding a profusion of food in all the deep, dark, and gloomy swamps dispersed over them. I wish, kind reader, that it were in my power to present to your mind's eye the favourite resort of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker. Would that I could describe the extent of those deep morasses, overshadowed by millions of gigantic dark cypresses, spreading their sturdy moss-covered branches as if to admonish intruding man to pause and reflect on the many difficulties he must encounter should he persist in venturing farther into their almost inaccessible recesses, extending for miles before him, where he would be interrupted by huge projecting branches, here and there the massive trunk of a fallen and decayed tree, and thousands of creeping and twining plants of numberless species! Would that I could represent to you the dangerous nature of the ground, its oozing, spongy, miry condition, although covered with a beautiful, but treacherous carpeting, composed of the richest mosses, flags, and water-lilies, no sooner receiving the pressure of the foot than it yields, and endangers the very life of the adventurer; whilst here and there, as he approaches an opening that proves merely a lake of black, muddy water, his ear is assailed by the dismal croaking of innumerable frogs, the hissing of serpents, or the bellowing of alligators! Would that I could give you an idea of the sultry, pestiferous atmosphere, that nearly suffocates the intruder during the meridian heat, in those gloomy and horrible swamps!

"The flight of the far-famed Ivory-billed Woodpecker is graceful in the extreme, although seldom prolonged to more than a few hundred yards at a time, unless when it has to cross a large river, which it does in deep undulations, opening its wings at first to their full extent, and nearly closing them to renew the propelling impulse. The transit from one tree to another, even should the distance be as much as a hundred yards, is performed by a single sweep; the bird appears as if merely swinging itself from the top of the one tree to that of the other, forming an elegantly-curved line. At this moment all the beauty of the plumage is exhibited, and strikes the beholder with pleasure. It never utters any sound whilst on the wing, except during the love season; but at all other times no sooner has this bird alighted than its remarkable voice is heard at almost every leap that it makes whilst ascending against the upper parts of the trunk of a tree or its highest branches. Its notes are clear, loud, and rather plaintive; they are heard at a considerable distance, perhaps half a mile, and resemble the false, high note of a clarionet. They are repeated three times in succession, and may be represented by the syllables 'Pait, pait, pait.' These are heard so frequently that the bird spends few minutes of the day without uttering them; and this leads to its destruction, not because, as some suppose, this species is a destroyer of trees, but because it is a beautiful bird, and the rich scales attached to its upper mandible form an ornament for the war-dress of the Indians, or for the shot-pouch of the hunter or squatter.

"The food of this species consists principally of beetles, larvæ, and large grubs; no sooner, however, are the grapes of our forests ripe than they are eaten by the Ivory-billed Woodpecker with great avidity. This bird seldom comes near the ground, but prefers the tops of the tallest trees. Should it, however, discover the half-standing, broken shaft of a large, dead tree, it attacks it in such a manner as nearly to demolish it in the course of a few days. I have seen the remains of some of these ancient monarchs of our forest thus excavated, and that so singularly that the tottering fragments of the trunk appeared to be merely supported by the great pile of chips by which its base was surrounded. The strength of this Woodpecker is such that I have seen it detach pieces of bark seven or eight inches in length at a single blow of its powerful beak; and by beginning at the top branch of a dead tree tear off the bark to an extent of twenty or thirty feet in the course of a few hours, leaping downwards with its body in an upright position, tossing its head to the right and left, or leaning it against the bark to ascertain the precise spot where the grubs were concealed, and immediately after renewing its blows with great vigour, all the while sounding its loud notes, as if highly delighted. This species generally moves in pairs. The female is always the most clamorous and the least shy. Their mutual attachment is, I believe, continued through life. Except when digging a hole for the reception of their eggs, these birds seldom, if ever, attack living trees for any other purpose than that of procuring food, in doing which they destroy insects that would otherwise prove injurious to the trees. I have frequently observed the male and female retiring to rest for the night into the same hole in which, long before, they had reared their young.

"The Ivory-billed Woodpecker nestles earlier than any other species of its tribe. I have observed it boring for that purpose in the beginning of March. The hole, I believe, is always made in the trunk of a live tree, and at a great height. The birds pay great attention to the situation of the tree and the inclination of its trunk, because they prefer retirement, and because they are anxious to secure the aperture against the entrance of water during beating rains; to prevent such a calamity, the hole is generally dug immediately under the junction of a large branch with the trunk. It is first bored horizontally for a few inches, and then directly downwards. The average diameter of the different nests I have examined was about seven inches within, although the entrance, which is perfectly round, is only just large enough to admit the bird. Both birds work most assiduously at this excavation, one waiting outside to encourage the other whilst it is engaged in digging, and when the latter is engaged, taking its place. For the first brood there are generally six eggs. They are deposited on a few chips at the bottom of the hole, and are of a pure white colour. The second brood makes its appearance about the tenth of August."