long, and is variegated with black, white, and brown; Picus, the belly is covered with white feathers, every one of which has a brown mark of the shape of a half moon at the end.
**Picumnus** and **Pilumnus**, were two deities at Rome, who presided over the auspices required before the celebration of nuptials. Pilumnus was supposed to patronize children, as his name seems in some manner to indicate *quod pellat mala infantia*. The manuring of land was first invented by Picumnus, from which reason he is called *Sterquilinus*. Pilumnus is also invoked as the god of bakers and millers, as he is said to have first invented the art of grinding corn.
**Picus**, the Woodpecker, in ornithology, a genus belonging to the order of picae. The beak is straight, and consists of many sides, and like a wedge at the point: the nostrils are covered with bristly feathers; the tongue is round like a worm, very long, and sharp at the point, which is befit with bristles bent backwards.
The grand characteristic, says Latham, of these birds is the tongue (which in no bird is similar, the wryneck excepted, whose other characters, however, differ too widely to give it place in this class), the muscles necessary to the motions of which are singular and worthy of notice; affording the animal means of darting it forwards the whole length, or drawing it within the mouth at will. See Ray on the Creation, p. 143; Derham's Physic Theol. p. 342. Note c. Will. Orn. p. 136. t. 21.
The same intelligent ornithologist enumerates no less than 50 different species of woodpeckers, besides varieties of some of them which amount to nine more. Each of these species our readers cannot expect us to describe; we shall therefore content ourselves with such as appear to be most remarkable.
1. The picus martius, or greatest black woodpecker, is about the size of a jackdaw, being about 17 inches long; the bill is nearly two inches and a half in length, of a dark ash colour, and whitish on the sides; the irides are pale yellow, and the eyelids are naked, according to Scopoli; the whole bird is black, except the crown of the head, which is vermilion; the first quill-feather is the shortest, and the two middle tail-feathers, which are longer than the others, make it appear a little rounded; the legs are of a lead colour, covered with feathers on the fore part for half their length.
"The female differs from the male in having the hind head only red, and not the whole crown of the head; and the general colour of the plumage has a strong cast of brown in it. It has likewise been observed, that the red on the hind head has been wholly wanting; and indeed both male and female are apt much to vary in different subjects; some having a much greater proportion of red on the head than others. This species is found on the continent of Europe, but not in plenty except in Germany. It is not an inhabitant of Italy, and is very rarely seen in France. Frisch mentions it as a bird common to his parts; and it is found also in Sweden, Switzerland, and Denmark, but not in winter.
"It is said to build in old ash and poplar trees, making large and deep nests; and Frisch observes, that they often so excavate a tree, that it is soon after blown down with the wind; and that under the hole of this bird may often be found a bushel of dust and bits of wood. The female lays two or three white eggs, the colour of which, as Willoughby observes, is peculiar to the whole of the woodpecker genus, or at least all those which have come under his inspection."
2. The picus principalis, or white-billed woodpecker, is somewhat bigger than the last, being equal in size to a crow. It is 16 inches long, and weighs about 20 ounces. The bill is white as ivory, three inches long, and channelled; the irides are yellow, and on the hind head is an erect pointed crest, of a fine red colour, some of the feathers of which are two inches long; the head itself, and the body in general, are black; but the lower part of the back, rump, and upper tail-coverts, are white; from the eye there arises a stripe of white, which passes on each side of the neck down to the back; three or four of the prime quills are black, but the rest are white; the tail is cuneiform, and of the same colour as the body; the legs and claws are also black.
"This species inhabits Carolina, Virginia, New Spain, and Brazil, and is called by the Spaniards carpenter, and not without reason, as this as well as most of the other species make a great noise with the bill against the trees in the woods, where they may be heard at a great distance, as if carpenters were at work, making, according to Catesby, in an hour or two a bushel of chips. He adds likewise, that the Canadian Indians make use of the bills of these birds for corocets, setting them round in a wreath with the points outwards; and that the northern Indians purchase them of the southerners at the rate of two and three buck skins per bill. Kalm says they are found in New Jersey, though very seldom, and only at certain seasons."
3. The picus erythrocephalus, or red-headed woodpecker, is about eight inches three quarters long, and weighs two ounces. The bill is an inch and a quarter in length, of a lead colour, with a black tip; the irides are dusky; the head and the neck are of a most beautiful crimson; the back and wings are black; the rump, breast, and belly, are white; the ten first quills are black, the eleventh black and white, and the others are white with black shafts; the tail is black and cuneiform; the legs and claws are of lead colour. The cock and hen are very nearly alike.
"This species inhabits Virginia, Carolina, Canada, and most of the parts of North America; but at the approach of winter it migrates more or less to the southward, according to the severity of the season; and upon this circumstance the people of North America foretel the rigour or clemency of the ensuing winter. Kalm observes that it is a very common bird, and is very destructive to the maize-fields and orchards, pecking through the ears of maize, and destroying great quantities of apples. In some years they are more numerous than in others, when they attack the orchards where the sweet apples grow, which they eat so far that nothing remains but the mere pills. Some years since there was a premium of twopence per head paid from the public fund, in order to extirpate this pernicious bird; but this has been neglected much of late. They are said likewise to be very fond of acorns. In Virginia and Carolina they stay the whole year, but are are not seen in such numbers in winter as in summer. During the winter they are very tame, and are frequently known to come into the housetops in the same manner as the redbreast is wont to do in England. It is observed that this species is found chiefly in old trees; and the noise they make with their bills may be heard above a mile distant. It builds the earliest of all the woodpeckers, and generally pretty high from the ground. It is accounted by many people very good eating. Buffon is of opinion, that it is necessity alone that causes these birds to feed on vegetables of any kind, as it is contrary to the nature of the genus."
4. The picus pubescens, or little woodpecker, according to Catesby, weighs only about an ounce and a half. Brisson says, it is larger than the smallest of our European species, being about five inches and a half long. The bill is about eight lines long, and of a horn colour; the top of the head is black, and on each side above the eye is a white line; the hind head is red; the hind part of the neck, the back, and rump, are black, which is divided into two parts by a line of white passing down the middle to the rump; the scapulars, upper wing and tail coverts, are black; the greater wing coverts and quills are spotted with white; the under parts of the body are pale grey; the tail is black; the four middle feathers are plain, the rest are barred with white and black; and the legs and claws are black.
The female has no red on the hind head. Linnaeus tells us, that the outer tail feather is white, marked with four black spots. This species inhabits Virginia and Carolina. According to Kalm, it abounds in New Jersey, where it is esteemed of all others the most dangerous to orchards, and is the most daring. As soon as it has pecked one hole in a tree, it makes another close to the first, in an horizontal direction, proceeding till it has made a circle of holes quite round the tree; and the apple trees in the orchards have often several of these rings of holes round the stem, infomuch that the tree frequently dries up and decays.
5. The yellow woodpecker is about nine inches long. The bill is of a yellowish white, and more than an inch long; the hind head is crested; the head itself, the neck, and whole body, are covered with dirty white feathers; from the lower jaw to the ears, on each side, there is a red stripe; the wing coverts are brown and edged with yellowish, and some of the greater ones are mixed with rufous on the inner web; the quills are brown or rufous; the tail is black; the legs and claws are grey.
"This species is common at Cayenne, and is called there charpentier jaune. It makes its nest in old trees which are rotten within; making with its bill a hole from without, at first horizontal, but declining downwards as soon as it has pierced through the sound part; till it is at last a foot and a half below the first opening. The female lays three white and nearly round eggs, and the young are hatched about the beginning of April. The male bears his share in the work with the female, and in her absence keeps sentinel at the entrance of the hole. The note of this bird is a kind of whistle six times repeated, of which the two or three last are in a graver accent than the others. The female wants the red band on the side of the head which is seen in the male.
"Specimens vary; some are of that dirty white, as Brisson describes it; others of a light yellow; which last is the case in a specimen in the Leverian museum: this is 13 inches in length.
"In the place referred to above, we find a bird imperfectly described by Mr Permin: he merely says, that it is a large species; that it has a fine red crest on the head; the neck, breast, and belly, of a citron colour; and the wings bluish above. He only adds, that it may be distinguished from others by the strokes of the bill, which it gives to the trees, and may be heard at a great distance."
6. The picus auratus, or gold-winged woodpecker, is about 11 inches long, and weighs about 5 ounces. The bill is an inch and a half long, and is somewhat bent, and is not square but roundish, ridged only on the top, the point being sharp; the upper parts of the head and neck are ash-coloured; the hind head is red; the sides of the head, throat, and fore part of the neck, are pale yellow; on each side of the head is a stripe of black, from the base of the lower jaw to the neck; the back, scapulars, and wing coverts, are of a grey brown colour, transversely striated with black lines; the rump is whitish; the breast, belly, and sides, are whitish yellow, and each feather is marked with a round black spot at the tip; on the middle of the breast there is a large crescent of black; the thighs, upper and under tail coverts, are black and white mixed; the quills are brown, with yellow shafts spotted with brown on the outer edge; the tail is blackish, being outwardly edged with grey; the outer feather is dotted with whitish on the margins; the shafts of all but the two middle feathers are yellow halfway from the base; and the legs and claws are brown.
The female differs in having the crown and neck behind grey brown; the hind head of a less vivid red; and the greater quills not spotted on the edges. She also wants the black list on the throat, but otherwise like the male.
This species inhabits Virginia, Carolina, and Canada, and is plenty in New Jersey and about New York, where it is called by some bittock or pint, and by others high-hole (a). Both the first names have some relation to its
(a) "I have lately seen (says Latham) in the Leverian museum a bird which appears to be a mere variety, though brought from a far different country. This was much like the picus auratus in colour, but rather less in size. The bill exactly made like that bird, and brown; on each side of the jaw is a stripe of crimson like a whisker; the under part of the wings of a pale red colour, not unlike what is called red lead; and the shafts of the quills and tail, which in the other bird are yellow, in this are red; the plumage on the upper parts of the body is brown, beneath vinaceous, marked with round black spots; tail black, pointed, and each feather bifurcated at the tip, exactly like the American one. This was brought from the Cape of Good Hope. I have seen two specimens of this bird." its note; and perhaps the latter, from the situation of the nest. It is almost continually on the ground, and is not observed to climb on the trees, like others of the genus. It lives chiefly on insects (a), and is com- monly very fat, so as to be thought very palatable for the table. It lays all the year; and as it cannot at all times eat insects, it must perhaps eat some kind of grubs or plants in the fields. Its form and some of its qualities make it resemble the cuckoo (c). Though it climbs not on trees, it flies to their tops and sits occasion- ally on the branches.
Forster, in the Philosophical Transactions, observes, that it is a bird of passage in the northern parts of America, visiting the neighbourhood of Albany Fort in April, and leaving it in September; that it lays from four to six eggs, in hollow trees, and feeds on worms and other insects. Called by the natives ou-thetee quan- now.
The following species are pretty well known in Bri- tain.
7. The viridis, or green woodpecker, weighs six ounces and a half; its length is 13 inches, the breadth 20 and a half; the bill is dusky, triangular, and near two inches long; the crown of the head is crimson, spotted with black; the eyes are surrounded with black, and the males have a rich crimson mark beneath the blackness; the back, neck, and lesser coverts of the wings, are green; the rump of a pale yellow; the whole of the under part of the body is of a very pale green, and the thighs and vent are marked with dusky lines; the legs and feet are of a cinereous green; the tail consists of ten stiff feathers, whose ends are ge- nerally broken, as the bird rests on them in climbing; their tips are black; the rest of each is alternately bar- red with dusky and deep green. These birds feed en- tirely on insects; and their principal action is that of climbing up and down the bodies or boughs of trees: for the first purpose they are provided with a long flen- der tongue, armed with a sharp bony end barred on each side, which by the means of a curious apparatus of muscles they can exert at pleasure, darting it to a great length into the cliffs of the bark, transfixing and drawing out the insects that lurk there. They make their nests in the hollows of trees; in order therefore to force their way to those cavities, their bills are formed strong, very hard, and wedge-like at the end; Dr Derham observes, that a neat ridge runs along the top, as if an artist had designed it for strength and beauty. Yet it has not power to penetrate a sound tree; their perforation of any tree is a warning to the owner to throw it down. Their legs are short, but strong; their thighs very muscular; their toes dispo- sed two backward, two forward; the feathers of the tail are very stiff, sharp pointed, and bending down- wards. The three first circumstances do admirably con- cur to enable them to run up and down the sides of trees with great facility; and the strength of the tail supports them firmly when they continue long in one place, either where they find plenty of food, or while they are forming an access to the interior part of the timber. This form of the tail makes their flight very awkward, as it inclines their body down, and forces them to fly with short and frequent jerks when they would ascend, or even keep in a line. This species feeds oftener on the ground than any other of the gen- us: all of them make their nests in the hollows of trees; and lay five or six eggs, of a beautiful semi- transparent white.
Willoughby says that the female lays five or six eggs; which Pennant (d) also observes; adding, that they are of a beautiful semitransparent white.
"These birds sometimes build in a hollow asp or other tree, 15 or 20 feet from the ground. The male and female take it by turns to bore through the living part of the wood, till they come to the rotten part, wherein, after being hollowed out to a proper depth, they lay their eggs (e), which are generally five and sometimes six (f) in number, greenish, with small black spots. The young ones climb up and down the trees before they can fly. It is worthy of remark to observe with what nicety the holes of the woodpecker are made, as perfectly round as if made by the assistance of a pair of compasses. Nuthatches, starlings, and bats, frequently build in these holes when deserted.
"Both Frisch and Klein mistake in saying that the females have not the red crown, for even the young ones in the nest have the appearance of it; and I have had them brought to me when they could scarcely fly, when the red was mixed with brown; but they do not become of a full red till after the first moult. They are said to be fond of bees in winter, making great havoc among them. Salerne observes, that they are found in the markets in Italy, at Bologna; but this is not extraordinary, for the Italians eat all small birds almost without exception.
"In Sir A. Lever's museum there is a variety of this bird, of a straw-colour throughout, except the crown, which is faintly marked with red."
8. The major, or great spotted woodpecker, weighs two ounces three quarters; the length is nine inches; the breadth is 16. The bill is one and a quarter long, of a black horn colour. The irides are red. The fore- head
---
(a) "In defect of insects I have been informed (says Mr Latham), that it feeds on the berries of the red cedar, and grows fat on them. This food has been both digested by the mouth, after being shot, as well as found in the stomach on dissection."
(c) "Linnaeus, in his tenth edition of the Systema Naturae, had ranked this with the cuckoos; and Buffon, from its similarity to this genus, has placed it at the end of the woodpeckers of its class."
(d) Br Zool. p. 242, where some pertinent observations on these birds may be found. Let the reader also consult Ray on the Creation, p. 143, and Derham's Physico-theol. p. 193, 339, 342.
(e) "This is sometimes so deep that they must feed their young quite in the dark; for I have been told by one, that he was obliged to thrust his whole arm to the shoulder down the hollow of a tree before he could reach the eggs."
(f) "I have seen six young ones together in one nest." Will. Orn. p. 136. head is of a pale buff colour; the crown of the head a glossy black; the hind-part marked with a rich deep crimson spot. The cheeks are white; bounded beneath by a black line that passes from the corner of the mouth and surrounds the hind-part of the head. The neck is encircled with a black colour. The throat and breast are of a yellowish white; the vent feathers of a fine light crimson. The back, rump, and coverts of the tail, and lesser coverts of the wings, are black; the scapular feathers and coverts adjoining to them are white. The quill-feathers are black, elegantly marked on each web with round white spots. The four middle feathers of the tail are black, the next tipped with dirty yellow; the bottoms of the two outermost black; the upper parts a dirty white. The exterior feathers marked on each web with two black spots; the next with two on the inner web, and only one on the other. The legs are of a lead colour. The female wants that beautiful crimson spot on the head; in other respects the colours of both agree. This species is much more uncommon than the preceding; and keeps altogether in the woods. This bird is pretty common in England, France, Germany, and other parts of Europe, frequenting the woods like the rest of its genus, and is likewise met with in America. It is a very cunning bird; for when a person has seen one on a tree, he is almost sure to lose sight of it, if the tree is large, and the observer not very attentive; for the moment it spies any one it will creep behind a branch, and there lie secure till the danger is over.
The extreme facility with which birds of the woodpecker kind descend as well as ascend the trees is worthy admiration, seeming to do both with equal ease to itself. We do not find any one who has noticed the colour of the eggs; but Buffon mentions having found a nest with five young ones in an old decayed alp tree, 30 feet from the ground.
9. The medium, or middle-sized woodpecker, agrees with the preceding in colours and size, excepting that the crown of the head in this is of a rich crimson; the crown of the head in the male of the former black; and the crimson is in form of a bar on the hind part. Birds thus marked have been shot in Lancashire and other parts of England; but Mr Pennant is doubtful whether they are varieties, or distinct species. "Buffon (says Latham), quotes many authors who have described this bird, but I am not clear in its being a distinct species. It is certainly much more scarce in England than any other. Buffon is reconciled to its being a variety only; but if so, this variety is regular, at least, in all the specimens which I have seen."
10. The minor, or least spotted woodpecker, scarce weighs an ounce: the length is six inches; the breadth eleven. The forehead is of a dirty white; the crown of the head (in the male) of a beautiful crimson; the cheeks and sides of the neck are white, bounded by a bed of black beneath the former. The hind part of the head and neck, and the coverts of the wings, are black; the back is barred with black and white; the scapulars and quill-feathers spotted with black and white; the four middle feathers of the tail are black; the others varied with black and white; the breast and belly are of a dirty white; the crown of the head (in the female) is white; the feet are of a lead colour. It has all the characters and actions of the greater kind, but is not so often met with. Salerne tells us that this bird is not found in France; but Buffon affirms that it inhabits most of the provinces there. It approaches near habitations in winter, and may be seen in orchards adjoining to houses, which no doubt it does for the sake of food, feeding about the trunks of the trees both caterpillars and larvae of insects of all kinds. It builds in a hole of a tree, and often disputes the right of possession with the little colemouse, which last, as it is much weaker of the two, must yield the victory. Willoughby says it is called in England by the name of bickwall. Linnaeus, in his synonymes of this bird, quotes Haffelquist for the same; but whoever will diligently read what this author says of the matter, will be convinced that the reference should be to the greater rather than the least of this genus. It is said by him to inhabit the higher parts of Asia.
Mr Sonnerat mentions a bird found by him at Antigue, in the island of Panay, with the top of the head, and hind part of the neck, of a greyish black; on each side of the neck, two-thirds downwards, is a stripe of white, which begins just above the eye; and under this another of black from the eye to the shoulder. The upper part of the body is black and white. The under parts pale yellow, spotted with black. The tail is black above, and beneath barred with a dirty white and yellowish colour. The bill and legs blackish. The head had no red on it. Buffon supposes it to have been a female, and a variety only of our least spotted woodpecker.
Picus (fab. hist.), a king of Latium, son of Saturn. He married Venilia, also called Canens, by whom he had Faunus. He was tenderly loved by the goddess Pomona, and he returned her affection. As he was one day hunting in the woods, he was met by Circe, who became deeply enamoured of him, and who changed him into a woodpecker, called by the name of picus among the Latins. His wife Venilia was so discomfolute when she was informed of his death, that she pined away. Some suppose that Picus was the son of Plutinus, and that he gave out prophecies to his subjects by means of a favourite woodpecker; from which circumstance originated the fable of his being metamorphosed into a bird.
Picus (John), earl of Mirandola, a prodigy of parts and learning, was the youngest child of John-Francis Picus earl of Mirandola and Concordia; and was born in the year 1463. The progress that he made in letters was so extremely rapid, that it was matter of astonishment to see even a boy one of the first poets and orators of his age. He was the scholar of R. Joachan, a German Jew, who confirmed his natural fondness for the cabalistical writings, insomuch that he is reported to have declared, that those who dived into them dived in the true head spring; whereas those rivulets that had flowed thence into Greece were no better than corrupt and stagnated waters. After visiting the most famous universities of France and Italy, he went to Rome; where, in 1486, before he was 24 years of age, he published 900 propositions in logic, mathematics, physics, divinity, cabalistic learning, and magic, drawn not only from Greek and Latin, but even from Jewish and Arabian writers: subjoining to his advertisement, that, "if any philosopher or divine would come to Rome to dispute with him," him upon any or all of them, he would defray the expenses of his journey from the remotest corners of Italy." He enjoyed, however, the honour of this disputatious challenge quietly, without danger to his credit: for envy procured some of his propositions to be charged with heresy, and he was forbid to dispute upon them. As a proof of the ignorance of his opponents, we are told that a theologian who had shown himself very zealous in conferring his book, being asked what was the meaning of the word cabbala? answered, that he was a wicked man and a heretic, who had written against Jesus Christ, and that those who followed his opinion were called cabbalists. At the age of 28, he confined himself wholly to the study of the scriptures; and undertook to combat the Jews and Mahometans, as well as to confound judicial astrology; but in this intention his credit was also saved, though with the loss of his life, by his dying in 1494, in his 32d year. He was called the phoenix of his age, and by Scaliger Monstrum sine Vitio. He composed a great number of works, which have often been printed both separately and together. The following epitaph is upon his tomb:
Hic situs est Picus Mirandola, exetera norunt Et Tagus et Ganges, forsan et Antipodes.
Picus (John Francis), prince of Mirandola, nephew of John Picus mentioned above, was born about the year 1469. He cultivated learning and the sciences after the example of his uncle; but he had a principality and dominions to superintend, which involved him in great troubles, and at last cost him his life. He was twice driven from his principality, and twice restored; and at last, in 1533, was, together with his eldest son Albert, assassinated in his own castle by his nephew Galeotti. He was a great lover of letters; and such of his works as were then composed were inserted in the Strasbourg edition of his uncle's in 1504, and continued in future impressions, besides some others which were never collected.