THE HE green Woodpecker is about the size of a jay: the throat, breast, and belly are of a pale greenish colour; and the back, neck, and covert feathers of the wings are green. The bill is straight, strong, and angular, and, in most of the species, is formed like a wedge at the end, for the purpose of piercing the trees. the tongue is its most distinguished characteristic, as it serves both for its support and defence. This is round, ending in a sharp bony tip, dentated on both

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sides, like the beard of an arrow, and capable of being thrust out three or four inches from the bill, and drawn in again at pleasure.

Such is the instrument with which this bird is provided, and the following is the manner in which it is used. When a Woodpecker, by its natural sagacity, finds a hollow or decayed tree, where there are worms, ants' eggs, or insects, it immediately prepares for its operations. Resting by its strong claws, and leaning on the ten hard, stiff, and sharp pointed feathers of its tail, it begins to bore with its powerful beak, until it discloses the whole internal habitation. It then sends forth a loud cry, upon which the whole insect tribe are thrown into confusion, and run hither and thither seeking for safety; while the invader luxuriously feasts upon them with leisure, darting in its long tongue, and devouring the whole brood. Sometimes, also, this bird alights upon the ground to try its fortune at an ant hill, and seldom fails of procuring a rich repast.

The Woodpecker, generally chooses for its habitation trees that are decayed, or soft wood, as elm and poplar. In these with very little trouble, it makes holes as exactly round as a mathematician could with compasses; and here the female deposits her eggs, without any thing to keep them warm, except the heat of her own body. When the young are excluded from the shell, and before they leave the nest, they are adorned with a scarlet plumage, under the throat, which considerably enhances their beauty.

There are various species of Woodpeckers, both in the Old and New World. Of the former we may mention the BLACK WOODPECKER, which is a native of Switzerland, Germany, and the north, and has black plumage, except the head, which is crimson. Of the latter, the most remarkable are the WHITE-BILLED WOODPECKER, called by the Spanish American settlers the Carpenter, from the loud noise that it makes;

and the REDHEADED WOODPECKER, a native of North America, which is so highly destructive in the orchards and maize fields that a price was formerly set upon its head.

ALL the numerous and beautiful varieties of this tribe derive their origin from the Stockdove, or Woodpigeon; which is of a deep bluish ash colour; the breast dashed with a fine changeable green and purple; the wings marked with two black bars; the back white, and the tail barred near the end with black. Such are the colours of the Pigeon in its natural state; and from these simple tints the effects of domestication have produced a variety that words cannot describe, nor even fancy suggest. The Stockdove usually builds in holes of rocks, or in excavated trees, Its murmuring note, at morning and dusk, is highly pleasing.

The RINGDOVE is considerably larger than the former, and derives its appellation from a beautiful white circle round the neck. It is the largest pigeon of our island; it being eighteen inches in length, and

weighing about twenty ounces. This bird builds its nest with a few dry sticks, in the boughs of trees; and is so strongly attached to its native freedom, that all attempts to domesticate it have hitherto proved ineffectual. Mr. Montague, the naturalist, took considerable pains to procure a domestic breed of them, but, though he succeeded in taming them so as to be troublesome in the house, he could never procure a breed either by themselves or with the tame pigeon. It is a curious fact, that he bred up together a Ringdove, a white owl, and a sparrow hawk, which lived in amity, but of which the Ringdove was the master.

The CARRIER PIGEON is distinguished from all others, by a broad circle of naked white skin which surrounds the eyes; and by the colour of the plumage, which is of a dark blue inclining to black. From their attachment to their native place, these birds are employed in several countries as the most expeditious carriers of letters; and formerly they were commonly used in conveying letters from place to place in time of war, and in case of sieges, when all other means of communication were intercepted, or cut off by the enemy. These birds have been known to fly at the rate of seventy-two miles in the space of two hours and a half. One of them will carry a letter from Babylon to Aleppo in forty-eight hours, though the journey generally occupies a man for thirty days.

The PASSENGER PIGEON is about the size of the common Pigeon. The head, throat, and upper parts of the body are ash coloured; the sides of the neck are of a glossy variable purple; the fore part of the neck and breast are vinaceous; the under parts of a similar colour, but paler; and there is a crimson mark round the eyes. These birds visit the different parts of North America in such immense flocks that we may justly apply to them Milton's expression of " numbers numberless." One flight of them is said to have been seen which extended to eighty miles.

THE Turtledove is a smaller bird than either of the preceding, and is easily discriminated from other species by the yellow iris of the eye, and by a beautiful crimson circle that encompasses the eyelids. The general colour of the bird is a bluish gray; the breast and neck are a kind of whitish purple; and about the sides of the neck is a ringlet of beautiful white feathers, with black edges.

The note of this bird is singularly tender and plaintive; in addressing his mate, the male makes use of a variety of winning attitudes, cooing at the same time in the most gentle and soothing accents. The fidelity of these birds has furnished poets and sentimental writers with the most beautiful allusions; and it is generally asserted, that if a pair be put into a cage, and one happen to die, the other will not survive it. It arrives late in the spring, and departs about the latter end of August: it frequents the thickest and most sheltered parts of the woods, where it builds its nest on the highest trees; the female lays two eggs, and has only one brood in this country, but in warmer climates it is supposed to breed several times in the