Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XVI.djvu/733

WOOD MOUSE the outer lateral toe longer than the inner. The wood ibis is the only representative of the genus in the United States. It is showy and mainly white, the tail and quills of the wings being dark metallic green, and the face and head greenish blue ; its total length is about 3 ft., and the spread of its wings as much as 5 ft. ; the bill, of a brownish horn color, and considerably curved toward the tip, is nearly 9 in. long, and at its base, where it rises high in the head, is 2 in. thick. They inhabit the southern states, and breed in immense num- bers, making their nests upon the tops of trees in cypress swamps ; their breeding places are used for several years, and their deep nests made of small twigs lined neatly with the south- ern Tillandsia; they lay three whitish eggs, nearly 2 by a little more than 1 in.; the young are hatched in April. They commonly go singly or in pairs, feeding upon small fish, crawfish, and young alligators. WOOD MOUSE. See MOUSE. WOODPECKER, the common name of the very numerous scansorial or climbing birds of the family picidce. The bill is long, straight, and wedge-shaped, with flattened and trun- cated tip, and sides more or less ridged ; the toes are two before and two behind, with strong sharp claws, enabling them to run upon the branches of trees with great facility ; the cervical vertebrae are 12, and greatly devel- oped, the caudal usually 7, the last one very large and with a strong, ridge-like spinous pro- cess ; the sternum has two excisions at the posterior margin on each side. The tongue has the horns of the hyoid bone greatly elon- gated posteriorly, extending around the back and over the top of the head, the anterior ends enveloped in a sheath in which they move freely, being attached in advance of the eyes, usually near the opening of the right nostril ; these slender bows are accompanied by slips of muscle by whose contraction they are short- ened, thrusting the tongue out far beyond the bill ; another pair of muscles, folded around the upper part of the trachea and going forward to the anterior part of the tongue, draw the organ in again ; its surface is covered with a gluti- nous matter secreted by two large glands, whoso ducts open near the point of the lower jaw, and furnish a fresh supply every time the tongue is drawn in ; the tip is also horny, with several barbed filaments pointing backward to retain insects too large to be captured by the viscid secretion. They are very active, living in woods and forests, continually tapping with the bill the surface of trees to discover soft and rotten places, in which are lurking the insects and the larvss on which they principally feed, and which they obtain by digging with great energy ; their motions on the trees are greatly assisted by the stiff tail, which has the feathers pointed at the end, where they are usually much worn ; they eat also fruits and seeds. They are gen- erally solitary, and usually silent, the principal noise they make being produced by striking WOODPECKER 709 the bill against the trees ; it is a mistake to suppose they injure trees, as their common name of sapsucker indicates ; being in search of destructive insects, they do much more good than harm. They roost and nest in holes of trees ; the eggs are four to eight, pure white, and deposited upon a few chips at the bottom of the hole. Their colors are generally strong- ly contrasted, black and white, or green and yellow, with red marks about the head. The family is connected with the cuckoos by the wryneck. (See WEYNECK.) Ihepicina; are the typical group of woodpeckers, and are very generally distributed over the earth, though most abundantly in warm regions. Among the hundreds of species, only a few of the most common American ones can be described here. One of these is the hairy woodpecker (picus villosus, Linn.), 8 or 9 in. long and 15 in. in alar extent, black above with white band down the middle of back ; larger wing coverts and quills with conspicuous spots of white, and two white stripes on each side of head ; lower parts white ; in the male there is a scarlet nuchal crest, covering the white ; the hyoid bones curve around the right eye to its posterior angle. It is found throughout North America to the eastern base of the Rocky mountains, other species occurring on the western slope ; it is lively and fearless, met with at all seasons in orchards, woods, and fields, even in the midst of cities; in winter it visits the farm yards to glean among the leavings of the cattle ; like other species, it clings when shot to the branches, even after death ; the flight is short and rapid, the notes sharp, and the plumage very soft and full, especially in northern regions ; it is found all winter in the woods about Lake Superior. The ivory-billed woodpecker (campephilus principalis, Gray) is about 21 in. long and 30 in. in alar extent ; the prevailing color is black, glossed with bluish above and greenish below ; stripe on side of neck and at base of bill, under wing coverts, parts of secondaries, and inner primaries, white ; the crest in the male scarlet ; primaries 10, the first very short ; tail feathers 12, exterior very small and con- cealed ; tarsi covered anteriorly with large plates. It is found in the southern states, Mexico, and Brazil, inhabiting the lonely for- ests and dismal swamps, uttering loud notes, "pait, pait, pait," like the high tones of a clarinet, especially in early morning and while preparing the nest. It begins to prepare its nest early in March, high on a tree, digging a cavity under some protecting branch, from 12 to 30 in. deep and 7 in. wide inside, both sexes working at it; it prefers the tops of the highest trees for its feeding places, though it will eat grapes, persimmons, and berries ; it does not attack corn and fruits like some other species ; its flight is sweeping and very graceful. The black woodpecker or log cock (dryotomus [hylatomus] pileatus, Bonap.) is If in. long and 29 in. in alar extent, with bill