There are between seven and eight thousand species of living birds. A few species have become extinct, specimens of which it is the intention of Birds to present in future numbers.
There are three centers of distribution in the United States: (1) the Atlantic states and Mississippi valley; (2) the Rocky Mountain plateau; (3) the Pacific coast.
Most of the birds breeding in the northern portions of the United States migrate south during the winter months. Those remaining are known as residents.
THE IVORY-BILLED WOODPECKER.
IN size, though hardly in beauty, this is indeed the prince of Woodpeckers, the largest of our North American species. Its length ranges from nineteen to twenty-one inches. There is one other Woodpecker, called the Imperial, which is larger, measuring twenty-three or twenty-four inches in length. This bird is found in Western Mexico, north along the Sierra Madre, and probably, according to Davie, has not yet been observed within the limits of the United States.
The Ivory-billed is now rare, and is apparently restricted to the extreme southern states, especially those bordering the Gulf of Mexico. It is of a wild and wary disposition, making its home in the dark, swampy woodlands. The dense cypress swamps of Florida are one of its favorite haunts.
The nest of the Ivory-bill is excavated in a tree, about forty feet from the ground, the cavity often being nearly two feet in depth. Three or more eggs are laid.