Cassell's book of birds; vol. 3

by Alfred Edmund Brehm

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."

IVORY-BILLED WOODPECKER (Campephilus principalis).